This makes the assumption that bpm in music is only whole numbers. A song that is 100.37 bpm will eventually deviate from a metronome set at 100 bpm.
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This makes the assumption that bpm in music is only whole numbers. A song that is 100.37 bpm will eventually deviate from a metronome set at 100 bpm.
I think that having a good sense of rhythm and good time is not the same as having the ability to play a tempo "metronomically", i.e. not speed up or slow down.
From what I have read from Jeff Berlin on the subject is that a metronome is a performance accompaniment rather than a learning tool and that it is a distraction in the learning process because you are no longer concentrating on the notes and the music, you are concentrating on maintaining a tempo. Anything you learn is done out of time and when you have properly learned the material, then timing is not an issue (with some exceptions). I agree.
Obviously, there are exceptions. You need to be able to maintain a tempo with a certain level of accuracy and depending on what you are playing and who you're playing with will factor into how much variation is allowed. If you can play your instrument decently well, playing to a click should not be a problem.
From what I have read from Jeff Berlin on the subject is that a metronome is a performance accompaniment rather than a learning tool and that it is a distraction in the learning process because you are no longer concentrating on the notes and the music, you are concentrating on maintaining a tempo. Anything you learn is done out of time and when you have properly learned the material, then timing is not an issue (with some exceptions). I agree.
Obviously, there are exceptions. You need to be able to maintain a tempo with a certain level of accuracy and depending on what you are playing and who you're playing with will factor into how much variation is allowed. If you can play your instrument decently well, playing to a click should not be a problem.
not mine, no. but i can see where others might manifest inhibitions when confronted with something (a metronome) which can test their limitations!
for those who think it's a crutch: on the contrary = it's a skill! if you have that skill: knowing when the tool (metronome) is useful and when it's not = an advantage! those who use their advantages to advantage = win!
i'm not specifically "pro metronome"....i'm just looking for advantages...for the win.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
People would be surprised how many big time touring musicians play to a click track on stage.
Some songs are recorded to a click track (metronome) and those don't deviate. Some songs are all over the place - tempo-wise (See almost anything recorded by the Black Crowes)
Neither is any "better" than the other.
I've played plenty of gigs with a new drummer and within the first two bars of the first song, I know whether or not my calf will be cramping by the end of the night because I have to try and keep track of the tempo myself. If that drummer practiced all his fancy fills with a click - he or she would know what rushing feels like.
I am guilty of it myself, and when the band starts rushing, I can often listen and find fault in something I am doing that contributes.
When the whole band "feels" the tempo changes together, it's music - it's beautiful. When only one musician feels it - the rest are left in misery trying to hold it together.
I really like your statement.
Here is my statement for the record .
I have played live music with a click and have Never encountered Any unmusicality or any stifling effects from playing with a click!
I have never ever encountered any complaints from any of my musician friends - highly educated and very ambitious - about detrimental effects of playing rhythmic music with the click.
Never.
I have never ever heard from a serious soloing musician that that click somehow put a “muzzle over the musician’s musicality!
Never.
I have said it in a very diplomatic way what I think about those anti metronomist myths while playing rhythm based music.
What's a metronome, and how does it work? Also, does anyone else punch nails in with their bare fists?
I don't use one live, but i did play with a band where the drummer used one that only he could hear/see. The rest of us played to him. It was very organic and I was surprised how well it worked. Especially because I didn't really think we needed it. But he liked to use it- and the results were good.
I do use one when recording. I record all of my music myself and a click helps me keep everything together. ymmv.
I do use one when recording. I record all of my music myself and a click helps me keep everything together. ymmv.
If your goal is to play like a metronome, and you are successful, then you’re gonna sound like a metronome. If a bass player isn’t successful and can’t come close, then what’s the point of doing it?
Groove Master
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Most people don't know how to use a metronome. Most of them think it is only a speed indicator which is only a small part of it. Musicians don't listen to it and only rely on it without even listening to it, which is the biggest mistake imo. Because its timing is so accurate it can help pointing out weaknesses in your technical abilities, rhythmic problems and precision and so on.
I've played live with drummers on click tracks (when necessary because of a backing track) and I'll record to click tracks 100% of times in a studio. A drummer with solid tempo can play comfortably to a click track and even introduce some mood to it (holding back parts or making them sound heavier i.e.), even if he/she seldom does it or even the first time he/she faces click track. OTOH somebody with bad tempo (internally arrhytmic) may spend decades playing to click tracks and still sound clumsy. Sorry to be this conclusive about it but I've experienced it many times: THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS LEARNING GOOD TEMPO, you either have it or you better find anything else besides music to do. It's like tone deafness, no cure to it (don't let Anthony Kiedis fool you, tone deaf people fronting big touring bands are an exception, positions are established as a result of long time friendship, not talent or -in this case- the minimal necessary skills -and don't get me started about John Rookieante-).
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Define "have it". Are you saying this is binary - people either have no sense of time or they have an excellent sense of time? Those who "have it" have no room for improvement?
I'm talking a basic level to start from, not being rhythmically impaired. There's a threshold definitely, under which there's not much you can do, no matter how much time you spend wired to a click track, never seen that "magic" work on rhythm impaired people.
i always practice with a metronome.
if life was perfect i would have one when playing live, but even without one, the practice does improve my pocket by miles.
i really don't get the love for fluctuating tempos.
if life was perfect i would have one when playing live, but even without one, the practice does improve my pocket by miles.
i really don't get the love for fluctuating tempos.
