Rhythm and timing

[carl h.]

It's like walking or running well, your legs must both be equal and up to the task.

First day of percussion in college the prof asked which hand was the dominant hand, I said right. He said from now on you keep your keys in your left pocket and open doors with your left hand. This small effort will pay off in muscular balance in your hands.

That was the simplest to implement piece of good advice I ever got.

 

[BassChuck]

Lots of great advice. How well do you know your instrument? If you have a hassle with either your fretting or plucking hand, it will show up as a 'timing' issue. Get the hand position right. Know the neck. Know your scales and chords. Know where you are going, notewise, before you move.

 

[tubenutq5]

Take a gander @ any youtube video that features Bobby Vega. He is truly a rhythm machine. Is it magic? I don't know but that's the way you do it.

 

[christianbassguitar]

Two things...Metronome and a Recorder...

 

[Londo Molari]

listen to Gentle Giant music for at least 30 minutes every day.

 

[Clef_de_fa]

I had that "ahah" moment seeing rythm on a sheet of paper and having to sing the rythm wihtout any pitch, just rythm and without anything else playing to keep my tempo.

 

[NorCal Dog]

this,,, if you're aware you can correct

record yourself at home

record every rehearsal

If I can add one thing to everyone above me: Record yourself!!!!!!

Sometimes I find the biggest problem with a player's time is that he or she is too preoccupied with nailing a lick or riff cleanly and the time gets lost. Record yourself to see where your problems are. If you can tell when you're out of time then it's just a matter of awareness and practice. If you can't tell when you're out of time you have some profound work to do. Rhythm and tone deafness can be ameliorated but it takes serious work.

 

[lkbass22]

I had a teacher who would have me practice walking a bass line with a click only on one beat of the bar. The idea is just to see how many chorus of a tune you can get through without deviating from the click.