Bassists who learned without the metronome

[JohnBrown13]

When I was trying to learn how to play the bass, I just watched the covers and live videos of a few bassists (Buddy Zabala, Flea, Tony Kanal, Stuart Zender) and their bands and learn their songs. I also tried to learn other songs as soon as people knew I was playing bass and hire me up for their band. I also have a bit of music theory knowledge when I was learning the guitar, and I think it helped with improvisation and composing. Recently I'm also trying to learn jazz bass and have read books such as Ed Friedland's Building Walking Bass Lines.

However, the idea of practicing with a metronome only came up recently to me because I'd read it in forums such as this. So in a way I don't know how to utilize it. But I think it didn't affect my bass playing negatively. I know that bassists in general are in demand so I won't count this as an evidence of me being able to play properly; but on the other hand, there are several instances when I'd play with a drummer and lock in with them, and both of us would want to play with each other again due to the mutually good experience.

Anyway, so are there other bassists here who had the same lack of knowledge about the metronome as me? And if you went from not using the metronome to using it, what are the improvements that you felt?
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EDIT: In lieu of the metronome, I think that I just have a feel for rhythm and groove, to the point that it makes me tap my foot or dance while playing.

You can definitely develop a solid feel without a metronome, especially if you’ve been playing along with real music and locking in with drummers. That’s actually a big part of groove.
The metronome just helps refine timing on a more precise level — like tightening up subdivisions, consistency, and staying steady without external cues. It’s not a replacement for feel, more like a tool to sharpen it.

 

[JazznFunk]

You can definitely develop a solid feel without a metronome, especially if you’ve been playing along with real music and locking in with drummers. That’s actually a big part of groove.
The metronome just helps refine timing on a more precise level — like tightening up subdivisions, consistency, and staying steady without external cues. It’s not a replacement for feel, more like a tool to sharpen it.

Echoing the earlier days of this thread: that's true as long as the drummers you're playing with also have solid time and feel. The metronome IS the time reference. The feel is how a musician plays ahead/on/behind it the pulse. That is the unique thing you learn about playing with other musicians. If you're 'locking in' with people who don't have the best time.... you might internalize their bad habits. If you develop good time from the start with metronomes, drum machines, etc, you can sniff that out in a heartbeat. But FEEL definitely has to be learned and is human.

 

[DWA2469]

Echoing the earlier days of this thread: that's true as long as the drummers you're playing with also have solid time and feel. The metronome IS the time reference. The feel is how a musician plays ahead/on/behind it the pulse. That is the unique thing you learn about playing with other musicians. If you're 'locking in' with people who don't have the best time.... you might internalize their bad habits. If you develop good time from the start with metronomes, drum machines, etc, you can sniff that out in a heartbeat. But FEEL definitely has to be learned and is human.

If the drummer has poor timing it won't matter how good yours is!! Unless of course they are ones that you can get to follow you!

 

[JazznFunk]

If the drummer has poor timing it won't matter how good yours is!! Unless of course they are ones that you can get to follow you!

Those gigs are the worst, where you spend more time approximating where the drummer's time is (often at multiple times in the entire tune) and attempting explicitly state where the time is to keep the train on the rails.

 

[BassicJazzy]

Those gigs are the worst, where you spend more time approximating where the drummer's time is (often at multiple times in the entire tune) and attempting explicitly state where the time is to keep the train on the rails.

The only live drummer I ever played with was back in my college band, and he was constantly accelerating the beat, approaching the inevitable drum solo every 10 minutes. His solos typically lasted 5 minutes. It was pretty tough keeping time with him, but at least I got plenty of rest time during the solos.

I have always used drum machines ever since, and now I pretty much have internal rhythm, at least in straight time. Metronomes ice me unless I keep them very soft in the background.

 

[KenSmithFan]

If the drummer has poor timing it won't matter how good yours is!! Unless of course they are ones that you can get to follow you!

I played with a drummer (very briefly) who had terrible timing. We were playing a song where I played almost all 1/8 notes, so at a rehearsal I just set the tempo and refused to budge. The band followed me and he actually got a whole beat ahead of me and didn't even know. I told the guitar player that night that it was either me or the drummer. Bad enough when your timing sucks, but when you don't even notice that you're off from the whole band, that's not fixable.

 

[J Wilson]

As a studio owner and operator I can say this: The number of people that come in and say they can play to a metronome versus ones who can ACTUALLY play to a metronome is pretty staggering. There's more to just playing in time with a metronome. Many can't do that effectively, but the real ones are those who come in, play to a click and can still maintain an excellent time feel within the confines of a metronomic grid. That said, many many many players come in and say "I can play to a click" and then simply can't. I had one young guitarist tell me "bro, your click keeps slowing down!" as he consistently sped up across every take.

Here's an exercise you can try: Take a bassline and play it solo to a metronome with no other accompaniment. Can you play it consistently in time? Can you play it where every note is super tight to the click? Can you do that on quarters? What about half? What about whole notes? Now if you've got that, try to play with time feel against the click. Can you play consistently behind the beat without losing the click? What about a little on top of the beat? Playing with a drummer is easy. By comparison a metronome is merciless and does not deviate. It doesn't care about feelings or swing or anything but being rigid. It's a cruel taskmaster, but a valuable one to learn to play to.

THIS.

You simply must develop an unerring sense of time apart from the drummer or any other player(s) in whatever situation you find yourself.

This is another one of those things like getting/staying/playing in tune that is simply not negotiable.

Period.

 

[scrubhelmet]

If the drummer has poor timing it won't matter how good yours is!

Reminds me of the start of the year. Our funk band hired a drummer since out main drummer wasn't available for a festival gig. Our BL was approached by the city mayor to play for a festival, and the pay was also larger than what we usually get, so he didn't want to back out.

During our first practice, IDK what the problem was, but the hired drummer had a terrible consistency with time. I don't know if it's due to our songs having parts with different tempos, or if it's just that his used to playing metal and now he's having difficulty with funk/rock/pop (our songs have a variety of flavor). He can't also do some fills for parts with irregular time signatures (which our main drummer can). Later, we found out that he was listening to a click, although our band doesn't. I think later on, our main drummer told him to remove the metronome and advised him how to approach each song.

During the succeeding practices, his timing improved. However, during actual event, he still had a difficulty being consistent with time. Fortunately, since our songs have interactive parts (i. e. question and answer), our BL managed to capture the audience's attention, to the emcee's surprise.

This arc made our BL value our drummer much more. Forgot who said it but I've read somewhere here that it really takes a great drummer to make a difference out of having no drummer at all.

 

[pepj]

At some point pretty soon on your journey, keeping to time becomes pretty obvious and fundamental.
If you can't or don't get it you need to fix it pretty quickly.
If you get known for poor time its hard to recover from, imv.
I think the internal clock is pretty natural so never needed the metronome.

 

[JazznFunk]

I think the internal clock is pretty natural so never needed the metronome.

Same here - then I work with the metronome or a drum machine and while things are usually in order overall- as they should be - I inevitably find something like a faster tempo or a subdivision of a rhythm or figure that I rush or drag a little that I didn't really notice before. The metronome always reminds us - there is always work to do.... even if it's just about fine tuning.

 

[Wfrance3]

I struggle with time (from time to time). This is totally a crutch, but works. If you sense you've lost the pocket, let the note your playing ring and catch the next one. If it takes longer than a bar to re-find your footing it's game over, but can save your tail if you miss a limb while climbing the tree.

 

[pepj]

Yep...also, I think as ears fatigue or decline over time, your timing can become something to keep an eye (ear) on.

A studio click is mandatory these days as is a very solid drummer on time.
If people can not handle time, you cannot have them on the date..its not really negotiable.

 

[TomB]

The only setting in which I struggled with a click has been in the same room with a drummer (isolated by phones only) who struggles with the click. My tendency to want to keep the “section” tight leads me to go with the drummer, who sometimes is louder than the click anyway. My preference then is to lay my track without him, but that’s not always the drill. Surely I can’t be the only one who’s struggled with this in a studio setting?

 

[JazznFunk]

The only setting in which I struggled with a click has been in the same room with a drummer (isolated by phones only) who struggles with the click. My tendency to want to keep the “section” tight leads me to go with the drummer, who sometimes is louder than the click anyway. My preference then is to lay my track without him, but that’s not always the drill. Surely I can’t be the only one who’s struggled with this in a studio setting?

I would lay your part down, then have the drummer lay his part down. Then it will become clear where the problem is. I experienced this a while back in a studio setting and always went with the click and 'shut out' the drummer as much as possible. Not easy to do if you are in the same room. At least my situation was that the drummer was isolated and I could control my headphone mix. Deal with it in a constructive criticism way. Just say 'I'm having trouble keeping the click distinct in my headphones since we're in the same room. To save time, let me cut my part separately, at least to have a 'safety take'.'

 

[Polfuste]

I've never played with a métronome. But learn from songs in different style. That said, i think it's a very good way to learn to play regularly on the click, and also to play at the front of time (a little beat before the click) and at the rear of time ( after the click) and play these three ways with a good regularity. It should helps to feel these three different ways to play that can make the groove better and with more life in it following musical context.

 

[pepj]

First priority is to get the drum track cleared..then you can add bass if the session allows in terms of budget.
But a drummer who lacks good time is a waste of time in the studio. They only generally get used on self financed band projects, imv.

In the old days everyone practiced to records, tapes etc...now Youtube is perfect if you are picking popular pro tracks..

 

[TomB]

First priority is to get the drum track cleared..then you can add bass if the session allows in terms of budget.
But a drummer who lacks good time is a waste of time in the studio. They only generally get used on self financed band projects, imv.

In the old days everyone practiced to records, tapes etc...now Youtube is perfect if you are picking popular pro tracks..

Fair enough. The session I was relating was one of those self-financed deals, but there would be lots of dubs so the click was essential for the base rythm track. I’ve laid tracks in lots of different sequences over the years, it’s how I got used to the click. But when you’re in the same room in real time…
Now if I were playing live with that same drummer, he was close enough to tempo that it wouldn’t really bother me. …but it wouldn’t lock to a click, either,