Do you count or feel rythms?

[kaljultdgl]

I have been playing bass for a very long time, but I don't know much about music theory. Some people have told me that I don't have any issues with time in my playing. I play rythms by feel and don't think about anything when I play.
But...
Sometimes I come accross rythms that I just can't "feel". One good example is Metallica - Anesthesia (the bass solo). In the very beginning there are basic 4/4 bars and 8th notes. But for me it feels really hard to keep track of time when I'm repeating 3 notes in 8th notes. The song makes me count "one two three one two three" so I don't know where the real "one" is.
I tried to bob my head and keep counting the time but then I couldn't hear or "feel" the notes I was playing.

I guess practicing more with a metronome would help
Does anyone else have problems with these kind of rythms?

 

[JRA]

Do you count or feel rythms?
both: it depends!

most of the time i can feel it after hearing it. sometimes it's trickier than it sounds: so i count. looking at the part (reading music) can be helpful in this case = mechanically reading and playing the part until it becomes a feel.

 

[Groove Doctor]

Both.

Practise exercises similar to the song you’re struggling with.

 

[SteveCS]

...

I guess practicing more with a metronome would help
Does anyone else have problems with these kind of rythms?

If you don't 'get' the rhythm then all a metronome will do is make you practice it wrong at constant tempo. IME, the quickest way to understand a rhythm is to write it out in standard notation. Take as long as it takes to get it written out correctly, then learn it from the notation. That way if you forget or get confused by anything you have a solid reference to go back to.
YMMV.

 

[Bob_Ross]

both: it depends!

^^^This

But for me it feels really hard to keep track of time when I'm repeating 3 notes in 8th notes. The song makes me count "one two three one two three" so I don't know where the real "one" is.

If you're going to count three-note polymeters in 4/4 as groups of three, at least learn to align the emphasis with the meter, so that you're counting "One two three one Two three one two Three one two three One two three one..."

Personally I find it easier to recognize those sort of polymeters as a "sound object", a recognizable figure that I know how it goes without having to count it or feel it per se. But that does take time and practice.

 

[2saddleslab]

As stated above, both. Whatever gets you thru the night.

 

[Malcolm35]

Another both. I mostly sing under my breath with the lead vocalist and follow the kick drum beat. Understand 90% of my playing is done with a sheet of fake chord on the music stand. Good Ole Boy Bands get by with this in East Texas. That seems to get it done for me. Now for some reason when I play a Blues progression I do count it out.

If jamming I go with the flow.

Good luck.

 

[Watchootognbout]

If you ever listen to Animals As Leader,you will find it impossible to count.
It's by feel.

 

[kaljultdgl]

^^^This




If you're going to count three-note polymeters in 4/4 as groups of three, at least learn to align the emphasis with the meter, so that you're counting "One two three one Two three one two Three one two three One two three one..."

Personally I find it easier to recognize those sort of polymeters as a "sound object", a recognizable figure that I know how it goes without having to count it or feel it per se. But that does take time and practice.

Thank you! This seem lika a good idea and I'll give this a try.

 

[QweziRider]

Do you count or feel rythms?

Yes.

Just depends on the song and how much attention I have to pay to it and everything else being played around me.

 

[Ggaa]

The slower the song, the more I count. Luckily our drummer is rock steady too.

 

[Joe Nerve]

Same as everyone else said... but I'll add...

That song is all over the faarikkken place. Unless in a Metallica tribute band, you couldn't pay me enough to learn that . And if I were in a Metallica tribute, I'd fight long and hard NOT to play it .

 

[REV]

I generally feel, except for "Papa was a Rollin' Stone".

 

[Liam Wald]

If you need to count to learn a song that is okay. But once you learn it and internalize it you should play it from the heart and play it with soul. When counting you are playing it from the brain. If you play from the brain in performance it will never be great. May as well phone it in.
Music is a heart and soul thing not a brain thing.

 

[Robscott]

Nearly always by feel. Once or twice I count. If I play Black Dog I guess!

 

[glocke1]

I have been playing bass for a very long time, but I don't know much about music theory. Some people have told me that I don't have any issues with time in my playing. I play rythms by feel and don't think about anything when I play.
But...
Sometimes I come accross rythms that I just can't "feel". One good example is Metallica - Anesthesia (the bass solo). In the very beginning there are basic 4/4 bars and 8th notes. But for me it feels really hard to keep track of time when I'm repeating 3 notes in 8th notes. The song makes me count "one two three one two three" so I don't know where the real "one" is.
I tried to bob my head and keep counting the time but then I couldn't hear or "feel" the notes I was playing.

I guess practicing more with a metronome would help
Does anyone else have problems with these kind of rythms?

I do both. There are some tunes or rhythms I just have to count. There are some sections of tunes I really have no idea what’s going on rythymically so I just try to lock in with the drummer and feel my way through it

the whole counting thing is something I’ve gotten conflicting information on from different instructors. Some say not to count, some I’ve seen counting themselves.

at this point in the game I just do whatever gets me though a tune without screwing up

 

[IamGroot]

If you read music, you can comprehend and replicate all sorts of complicated rhythms.
And use a metronome to boot. I read music without an instrument with or w/o a metronome as practice.

I use a method called sharpshooting to feel rhythmal. You choose a particular 8th note like the & of 3 and call it against a metronome without counting. Move up to 16ths when 8ths are solid.

 

[IamGroot]

"Poppa was a Rolling Stone" is a good rhythm to sharpshoot without counting.

 

[jallenbass]

Feel but verify by subdividing with a metronome.

 

[SLO Surfer]

I'm repeating 3 notes in 8th notes. The song makes me count "one two three one two three" so I don't know where the real "one" is.

I count and/or feel rhythms. Both, interchangeabley. For your problem with anesthesia I would change how you are counting if you’re losing track of where “one” is.

First of all, these groups of three 1/8th notes are called 1/8 note triplets. Instead of “ONE two three, TWO two three,” as suggested above, I’d recommend taking away the numbers in your head and just focus on the actual beats. So try something like, “ONE a lah, TWO a lah, THREE a lah, FOUR a lah.” You could add any words or syllables for the notes that aren’t falling on the beats. “ONE stink bug, TWO stink bug.” I think syllables that flow off the tongue audibly actually work better in your mind too, so “ONE stink bug” might not work as easily as “ONE a lah,” but you get the point?