that's Tara Nevins! Great fiddle player! We also do that tune. My BPM meter read about 148 for that song. I think we do it a tab slower but not much. That's a good pace for that song.
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Double Bass Let's Talk BPM....
- Thread starter neddyrow
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that's Tara Nevins! Great fiddle player! We also do that tune. My BPM meter read about 148 for that song. I think we do it a tab slower but not much. That's a good pace for that song.
Those mechanical metronomes, with tempi ranging somewhere between 40 bpm (larghetto) and 200 bpm (prestissimo) were done with classical music in mind in which the beat is usually the quarter note and the main subdivision is the 16th note. So 120 bpm (allegro) is already rather fast and 160 bpm (presto) very fast.
In jazz (swing), the beat is also mostly the quarter note, but the main subdivision of the beat is usually the (swung) 8th note. So 120 bpm is a rather moderate tempo and upbeat tempi are frequently above 300 bpm. You cannot use a typical mechanical metronome at 300 bpm; rather you would set it at 150 bpm and pretend it plays on 2 and 4.
In jazz (swing), the beat is also mostly the quarter note, but the main subdivision of the beat is usually the (swung) 8th note. So 120 bpm is a rather moderate tempo and upbeat tempi are frequently above 300 bpm. You cannot use a typical mechanical metronome at 300 bpm; rather you would set it at 150 bpm and pretend it plays on 2 and 4.
For me, beats are the things I count loud or do a move dancing. The subdivisons are faster, but If I am not able to count them loud or dance at that tempo, for me they are not "beats". What you calculate the tempo to be from using subdivisions is of no interest. Else: Classical allegro quarters at 120bpm are eights at 240bpm and sixteens at 480bpm. But the correct speed reference still is 120bpm. With halfs at basic of messuarment, the tempo may be 120 bpm = 120 half note beats a minute, calling that 240 bpm with reference to quarters makes no real sense. Dancing is usually done on the beats, in this case the half notes.
And as already said above: slower is better then wrong, if you can not play good and musically, you are playing to fast.
And as already said above: slower is better then wrong, if you can not play good and musically, you are playing to fast.
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That's the metronome I bought many decades ago (still have it, but it's covered with dust, as apps are more convenient to use...). Point is: it ranges between 40 and 208 bpm. Anything slower than 40 or faster than 208 is anyhow unbearable for the ears.
Furthermore, as mentioned by others above, for jazz tunes with 300+ quarter notes per minute, it is much preferable to feel the pulse as half-notes.
Fun fact: if you place it on a non-horizontal surface, the 'nome plays swung 8th notes... It can simulate the drummer's ride cymbal...
