I just did a gig with a singer who has a poor sense of time. It's not a tempo issue, it's just where we are in the measure and when to come in. He doesn't have any formal training. But neither do I, and I don't have to think about it at all, so I really struggled to explain to him how I (or any of our other band members) do it. I mean, I can try and explain that you start singing on the "a" of the 5th bar but that's not how I perceive a song, so it's a lot of work for me to reverse-engineer my instinct and lay it out for him for every single verse of every single song. FYI we're not doing any crazy prog time signatures, it's mostly 4/4 stuff.
He ended up doing a ton of work memorizing specific hooks in some instrument melody or a drum accent that he would use as a cue. That worked pretty decently at our final rehearsals leading up to the show. On stage, it all went back to poopie and the rest of us were left covering for his mistakes.
It's sad because he has a good voice and is an excellent frontman. He's also an awesome fellow, always willing to take feedback, and willing to work to improve himself. But I'm not sure what to tell him. Should I encourage him to take voice lessons? Instrument lessons (he plays a little guitar)? Can one learn timing, or is it an innate ability so if you don't have it you're completely screwed? If there's no hope for him I'd rather give him the harsh news instead of false hope.
Do any of you have experience working with someone who had a hard time with timing, but improved over time? FYI we're all in our 40s to there's no more brain cells left to develop, they're all dying slowly.
Yes, based on your definition of poor timing, it can be learned. It's about listening and developing good instincts.
Memorizing specific hooks are kind of a training-wheels approach that falls apart under pressure. Training wheels may get you used to being in the saddle, but they're completely useless for finding your balance.
I was exactly there about 40 years ago - I didn't have good instincts on where to come in.
Developing those instincts is about having that internal clock always ticking off the count in your head to the point where it's second nature. I started listening to the source material, not trying to play or sing, counting beats per measure while listening, out loud at first, then counting in my head later. Over time, it worked.
After that became more second nature, I got used to starting the count later in each measure - "2,3,4" and "3,4", which really helped to develop an instinct for those pre-measure starts.
Developing good instincts for timing, by your definition, is one of the three vital principals to becoming an excellent front man. The other two are connecting honestly with a crowd and giving good stage directions.
Big disagree on your over-40 statement, which I took to be more tongue-in-cheek than sincere. I'm 68 and have adapted and learned more in the past 28 years than I ever did in my earlier years (when I thought I knew everything).
