I prefer practicing with a drum beat and I'm just looking for opinions from you more experienced bassists. Do you find practicing with a metronome superior to a drum beat? Or are they about the same thing?
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Metronome or drum beat?
- Thread starter dukeandrews
- Start date
Metronome to have a reality check on your time. Set it or your drum machine to only on the 2 and 4, the snare hits. This makes YOU supply the 1 and 3, which is your job as bassist. If you can play a part with a full-blown drum part but can't with just 2 and 4, that means you aren't keeping time. You're relying on the drums to keep time for you, and that will keep you crippled as a musician.
You can't imagine how is better practice on metronome instead the drum machine. With metronome your tempo skill improve drastically, you'll be able to play on any kind/style of drums groove..
- Oct 7, 2000
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- Endorsing artist: Musicman basses
I find benefits to both. A slowly set metronome can do things for your timing that a beat cant.
A beat can do things for your sense of rhythm that a metronome can't.
I feel each has it's place.
I have what I consider an awesome practice tool:
It's got a ton of beats in it. What I do when I'm rehearsing a set on my own is find a beat that loosely fits the song, and play along. Then I change the beat (style) and play along again. Then I slow it down, speed it up, and play whatever I'm working on a bunch of different ways. It's fun. It helps me to really drill home the song arrangements (as I have nobody else to follow), and it helps me to listen really well and lock in with different rhythms.
The apache bass isn't of course necessary to do this, it can be done with any beat machine. It just makes it really simple because it's all there in one instrument. Amplifier too!
A beat can do things for your sense of rhythm that a metronome can't.
I feel each has it's place.
I have what I consider an awesome practice tool:
It's got a ton of beats in it. What I do when I'm rehearsing a set on my own is find a beat that loosely fits the song, and play along. Then I change the beat (style) and play along again. Then I slow it down, speed it up, and play whatever I'm working on a bunch of different ways. It's fun. It helps me to really drill home the song arrangements (as I have nobody else to follow), and it helps me to listen really well and lock in with different rhythms.
The apache bass isn't of course necessary to do this, it can be done with any beat machine. It just makes it really simple because it's all there in one instrument. Amplifier too!
Thanks for the confirmation. I had a feeling... I'll try your guys suggestions.
Do you find practicing repetitive patterns helpful for working with the metronome? Scales, maybe. I've tried the metronome in the past and found it boring. Do y'all (yeah, I'm from south of the Mason Dixon) have any tips for keeping it interesting?
Do you find practicing repetitive patterns helpful for working with the metronome? Scales, maybe. I've tried the metronome in the past and found it boring. Do y'all (yeah, I'm from south of the Mason Dixon) have any tips for keeping it interesting?
- Jul 30, 2006
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- Endorsing artist:Regenerate Guitar Works Carvin, Micheal Kelly Guitars
I use a drum machine. Slow tempos are the hardest to keep even for me. I really want one of those Beat Buddy pedals for practice. You can feel the push and pull when you play with a live drummer like never before after playing with something that's really in time. Maybe the drummers should buy one.
A metronome and a drum machine should be included in your practice.
They have slightly different purposes.
A metronome is more for improving timing and a drum machine is more for refining the song's "feel", but both tools are interchangeable.
Also, a drum machine could be programmed to work as the metronome.
They have slightly different purposes.
A metronome is more for improving timing and a drum machine is more for refining the song's "feel", but both tools are interchangeable.
Also, a drum machine could be programmed to work as the metronome.
A wind-up metronome is good for basic applications...to a point.
An electronic metronome often can give you more variety on rhythm and beat accents......which a wind-up can't do.
Good programmable drum machine are great because you can create any amount or type of drum rhythm.....which in real life are often more complex in nature than a wind-up old school metronome or an electronic.
All have their uses........
Some times I like the wind-up because it's less annoying than an hour of drum-beat.
An electronic metronome often can give you more variety on rhythm and beat accents......which a wind-up can't do.
Good programmable drum machine are great because you can create any amount or type of drum rhythm.....which in real life are often more complex in nature than a wind-up old school metronome or an electronic.
All have their uses........
Some times I like the wind-up because it's less annoying than an hour of drum-beat.
I have no experience with drum machines, but as others have mentioned, they all have their own merits.
If I couldn't have had a live drummer with some good back beat at my beckoned call, I would have loved to have a drum machine in my day.
I used to use the old black plastic Franz electric metronome, as it forces one to be aware of and keep the correct tempo especially when the bpm is slow.
If the click of the bpm is too slow, try doubling it at the beginning, but that can get pretty annoying.
I used to mute it with a towel or blanket!
When you hear or see older live jazz(and even rock on occasion) performances in which the bassist is soloing, the drummer would only tap out down beats, and on the hi-hat only.
As in all instruments, the mark of a good musician is not what you play, it's more in knowing what not to play, or what you do with the space in between, and when and where to do both.
I found that the basic metronome left more space to the imagination and left more of the creative groove and back-beat to me, but that's just my two scents.
369 × 310 - musicalassumptions.blogspot.com
If I couldn't have had a live drummer with some good back beat at my beckoned call, I would have loved to have a drum machine in my day.
I used to use the old black plastic Franz electric metronome, as it forces one to be aware of and keep the correct tempo especially when the bpm is slow.
If the click of the bpm is too slow, try doubling it at the beginning, but that can get pretty annoying.
I used to mute it with a towel or blanket!
When you hear or see older live jazz(and even rock on occasion) performances in which the bassist is soloing, the drummer would only tap out down beats, and on the hi-hat only.
As in all instruments, the mark of a good musician is not what you play, it's more in knowing what not to play, or what you do with the space in between, and when and where to do both.
I found that the basic metronome left more space to the imagination and left more of the creative groove and back-beat to me, but that's just my two scents.
369 × 310 - musicalassumptions.blogspot.com
They're both great, but if you REALLY want to kick your own ass, you have to try this:
After some explanation and demonstration in the above video, tl; dr is:
* Play your groove/bass line with the click only on 'one' until it's solid.
* Now play the groove with the click on 'two'.
* Now 'three'
* 'Four' (duh). The easiness ends here
* Now play with the click on the 'and' of one.
* 'and' of two
* 'and' of three
* 'and' of... you guessed it... four! We have now finished Metronome Skillz 101. Master's class is next
* Play that funky bass line with the click on the 'e' of one, two, three, four, etc.
* Now do it with the click on 'uh' of one, two, three, four.
Reading about it and slapping your forehead in amazement/admiration/disbelief is one thing. Going and actually doing it is totally different. Just try it with something 'easy' (the slowed-down bassline to 'I Wish' is my personal go-to, I find the walking line to be pretty straightforward and the all-quarternote groove to be simple to grasp/demonstrate; YMMV) and I think you'll soon realize the benefits of this kind of metronome practice, and how it translates over to tighter time on the bandstand.
After some explanation and demonstration in the above video, tl; dr is:
* Play your groove/bass line with the click only on 'one' until it's solid.
* Now play the groove with the click on 'two'.
* Now 'three'
* 'Four' (duh). The easiness ends here
* Now play with the click on the 'and' of one.
* 'and' of two
* 'and' of three
* 'and' of... you guessed it... four! We have now finished Metronome Skillz 101. Master's class is next
* Play that funky bass line with the click on the 'e' of one, two, three, four, etc.
* Now do it with the click on 'uh' of one, two, three, four.
Reading about it and slapping your forehead in amazement/admiration/disbelief is one thing. Going and actually doing it is totally different. Just try it with something 'easy' (the slowed-down bassline to 'I Wish' is my personal go-to, I find the walking line to be pretty straightforward and the all-quarternote groove to be simple to grasp/demonstrate; YMMV) and I think you'll soon realize the benefits of this kind of metronome practice, and how it translates over to tighter time on the bandstand.
dépends on what you want to work :
Learning music for a music sheet or while recording I prefer a metronome
if I want to create a groove and solo over it then a drum beat may help the creative process
Learning music for a music sheet or while recording I prefer a metronome
if I want to create a groove and solo over it then a drum beat may help the creative process
Don't know if anyone else has ever noticed this or of it's just me; but wind up metronomes all seem to have a little bit of "swing" to them. That is: every other beat isn't precise; like the pendulum arm works harder to list one direction than the other. Drives me nuts.
Have a little portable battery powered met. Like setting the click to run as "2" & "4", as mentioned above.
Also have an old Roland 505 programmable drum machine. Have written one setting as a click = rimshot.
