That'll be because you can't look an MP3 player in the eye!!!
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Do you count or feel rythms?
- Thread starter kaljultdgl
- Start date
That'll be because you can't look an MP3 player in the eye!!!
Either this ^ or you have to know the song inside out, and I mean know it!
There is a such wide range of bands, from jam bands where you have to constantly watch and listen for cues, to show bands where everything is worked out at rehearsal, and all points in between.
Both are great fun to play in, the jam band because it keeps you on your toes, the show band because you can concentrate on putting on a show (and watch the booty shake if you so desire) knowing that the other guys aren't going to spring any surprises on you.
I do both. I have a good sense of feel, but counting in my head makes it a lot harder for me to screw up. It's like, I know roughly how much money I have, but I count it before I buy something I have to pay for in cash.
After giving this some thought I do both. Rhythm guitar is 99% feel. Blues on the bass, or odd signatures like 5/8 or 6/8 will find me counting. I also sing along, under my breath with the lead vocalist and follow along with the lyrics. This seems to keep me where I need to be and eliminates the need to count.
Good timing is a prerequisite for having good feel, and good timing is developed from counting and improving your internal time clock.
It's different part's of your brain at work when you are consiously counting or when you are feeling the timing, it's coming from a different source. Not sure if there ever have been a study about it, but EEG measurements would probably detect the difference of brain activity.
I used to count or feel rhythms. Then I learned to read rhythm notation. Now I just know exactly what the rhythm is.
After thinking about this, I thought maybe some definition is in order. Feel, the way I define it, is how and when you play your notes in relationship to the absolute metronome-like time clock reference. This includes syncopation, playing ahead or behind the clock, anticipating, lilt, etc., this is what gives music its perceived "feel". To do any of this accurately, you must have a rock solid intrinsic sense of time to know how and where to play your notes time-wise.
Alternatively, there is what I think is an erroneous description, where some that play by feel, groping blindly for the notes, and guessing where to place them. Because time is already lost deciding which note to play, it limits how much time is available for deciding where to place it time-wise to the absolute time-clock rhythm.
Alternatively, there is what I think is an erroneous description, where some that play by feel, groping blindly for the notes, and guessing where to place them. Because time is already lost deciding which note to play, it limits how much time is available for deciding where to place it time-wise to the absolute time-clock rhythm.
Neither.
Count. When I was in school, our band directors had us count rhythms sometimes, as an exercise. It was never something that helped me to play one, though. In fact, the more difficult rhythms just got bogged down trying to force count them. I find imposing a counting scheme on a written or heard rhythm to just be counterproductive.
Feel. I feel beats, and tempos, and grooves—but not really rhythms. Except for weird polyrhythmic improvisations. (You really have no choice but to try and feel 5 against 4, or a septuplet). Trying to feel a rhythm—to me—implies hoping it somehow turns out well. You either know how to interpret it, or not. Wishing, hoping, or feeling is no guarantee.
So if I don’t count or feel a rhythm, what am I doing then?
If it’s notated, I read it; If it’s heard, I mimic it.
Feel doesn’t help much when you are trying to communicate with another musician.
I always feel it; I have an overall sense of the time but it's entirely intertwined with the music. I never really think about it unless I run across something different that I'm playing it just fine, but something keeps nagging at me as to why is this feel this way; Pink Floyd's 'Money', when it goes into the bridge, it's obviously a different time sig than the verses and that main riff. I just always played it, then one day actually sat down and counted it out, and oh yeah, now I see what they did: 7/4 for the verses and most of the song with a 4/4 bridge if I got it right. But generally, I don't think about it.
I would argue that you should be able to count anything you play. It’s a skill. “Feel” is a word I hear a lot from people who just can’t count. I learned music in concert band from grade school on. I’ve tried to explain to a drummer that Led Zep’s Rock and Roll drum fill comes in on the “and of three” and got a blank stare. (No longer playing with that guy) If you are a drummer, isn’t it your job to count? It is nearly impossible to communicate advanced rhythms to other musicians without some basic music theory. Even Animals as Leaders certainly count while mapping out arrangements for drum machines, and backing tracks. Learn to count people. It’s no different than learning scales.
“Feel” is a word I hear a lot from people who just can’t count"
Thats quite the accusatory statement.
So you count in your head when you dont have to, just because you can?
How is your feel?
No, much like I don’t think out the note “letter” as I’m playing, I internalize it. When I’m learning something, I count it, and when I’m communicating to my band mates, I communicate in note values. I’m sharing my observations from playing with people of varying levels of musical theory knowledge over the years. I “feel” a songs rhythm after I’ve learned it and internalized it. Only when I’m communicating to others does “counting” really matter at that point. I understand that many successful musicians don’t know a thing about theory, but I would argue that those people have a very high level of raw talent to make up for it. Most of my weekend warrior buddies can’t claim that. I’m suggesting that a little music theory knowledge can go a long way in helping to learn, rehearse and perform a song.
Of course this is not the only way to subdivide 7/8. This is a ditty I wrote way back in 1990, with no subdivision...
