• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Someone keeps speeding up!

Slaphound

Slaphound

Jun 16, 2003
2,988
1,235
59
Staten Island, NY
#1
I play in a blues Cover band and for some reason on certain songs, the whole band gets faster. How can I fix this? I don't know if its the drummer me or the other members. I know for a fact that the guitar player has a bad sense of timing and I think that the drummer tends to speed up but I could be me. What should I do?
 
#3
well the drummer and to an extent the bassist are in charge of the timing you can probably force the others to slow down by having the drummer keep his tempo. talk to the band about it and tell them to always use the drum as the time keeper, now if the drummer is the one speeding up then you have a problem.
 
#4
Youngspanion said:
I play in a blues Cover band and for some reason on certain songs, the whole band gets faster. How can I fix this? I don't know if its the drummer me or the other members. I know for a fact that the guitar player has a bad sense of timing and I think that the drummer tends to speed up but I could be me. What should I do?
Click to expand...

Rushing is one of the most universally common issues for all musicians. Bust out the metronome if you have to! The drummer is usually the guy for the job when it comes to getting a handle on that kind of situation. Communication is key... Actively engage each other when you play. Get some eye contact, learn how to communicate these things with body language. Just takes some practice :)
 
#5
rushing on fast tunes in jazz standards is so common ive heard several pro jazz drummers bring it up 10-15 clicks on a fast tune like confirmation or giant steps.... its miserable to me, by the time you get to the bass solo (usually at the end) its like every tune is bird on crack ( or should I say birds crack on crack)! Best thing to do is keep good eye contact with the drummer and a subtle suggestion like "hey dont let "them" run away with this one" usually a professional will get the hint.l assume that in your band if its one guy its hard to articulate who on the fly but if you record one tune play the first 10 second with the band and a metronome over this recording, then thelast 10 seconds on the metronome over the same song (same bpm over the ending) ... then email the guys before the next practice,most musicians are usually blown away. Im not usually a fan of playing with a metronome in live situations but this may help and you can always sit in a circle for a song like those dumb unplugged eagles videos. Good luck!
 
#6
Have the band Practice with a metronome to hear what's going on.

Also talk about it too. ie. If you like playing on top of the beat, slightly ahead of the drummer, it's important that that when drummer hears this, he does not try to catch up to you. You'll both get into a tempo race. He needs to hold his ground and let you be ahead of him. Maybe it's someone else who wants to be first, and someone else is rushing to catch up, and they create the acceleration. Ask around. Find out where each band member expects to be in relation to an abstract metronome beat.
 
#7
Just say "hey guys, on this and that song we tend to speed up, lets ALL try to be conscious of the tempo."
Anyone who tries to insist it's not their job to keep time should be humiliated for being an amateur and sabotaging the music.
Or at least gently informed of their misguided attitude.

Instead of metronome, My band uses a tempo ref
Tempo REF
works nicely.
 
#8
Yeah. So I guess I'm gonna talk with everyone. We do Memphis Soul Stew and I always seem to be falling behind but I play the song well enough and practice it enough that I shouldn't be falling behind at all. This is the first problem. Then we can work on the rest.
Thanks fellas.
 
#9
Ever played with a Ouija Board (Weeji board)? That thing seems to move magically by itself, but it's the collective influence of everyone's fingers on it, whether you can tell or not that you're adding to it. Speeding up or slowing down is like that. Sometimes it's not just one person's fault. We do it. Sometimes I can tell it's the drummer, but other times I can't tell who it is. The best solution is to talk about it.
 
#10
9 times out of 10, when I've had this problem with groups, it's come down to the drummer getting into what the guitarist is doing, he pumps it up a bit, and the guitarist reacts...... and the drummer pumps it up a bit more..... and so on. It's great to listen and react to each other, but not at the detriment of your primary function....... keeping time. Talk to the band about it, and see if a bit of focus on it during rehearsals doesn't cure it. One thing you can do is play the tune without the guitars, and see if there is an improvement. If there is, then again, a bit of focus from the drummer and guitarist can help. Also, having the drummer focus more on the bass line instead of the guitarist is a big help.
 
#11
There's a spot in In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, by the Allman Brothers, that is quarter note triplets for about a measure and a half (right before where the tune changes to part B) that some folks will play in time and others will not, or cannot. Drives me crazy. Also, the same problem in James Brown's I Feel Good (actual correct title is I Got You), right after where the lyrics say, "I got you" that usually gets rushed by most folks ( ya'll know, where the notes are all off beat, C E G Bb D).
 
#12
I brought it up last week before we did the jam and we were able to work it out. It was pretty much the drummer. He has a pretty bad sense of time and He does react to the Guitarist. Problem solved. It was just a matter of bringing it up in conversation as opposed to just letting it be and hoping for a natural solution.
 
#14
I thought about adding a metronome to my rig more than once just for situations like this. A lot of people look at them as a beginner tool but their definatly not. I have a few friends in cover bands that consider them essential. Helps keep the different songs at the original tempo's. Some have led's , you can turn them so you and the drummer can see them and keep everyone on tempo. Also cool if you want to speed up a slower song a bit but don't want to let it get out of hand. Might be your best bet. Most of us don't realize when we speed up........but we all know that dosent happen lol
 
#15
The drummer is the time keeper. Have him do what a friend of mine does on his kit.
John has rock solid timing and periodically sets up a visual metronome to
known tempos and double checks himself with it.
Can't argue with the metronome, but he will on his own.
LOL
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back