Metronomes: The dreaded, soulless, torture devices inflicted upon musicians in order to make them march in line like teenagers into the cookie cutter, just like a Pink Floyd video. Well I am here to tell you if you wanna be a really tight musician, and be awesome at your instrument you are going to need to start playing to some sort of time keeper. Whether you are a Singer, Guitarist, Flutist, or Drummer, this article applies to you and your practicing habits. In this series I am going to tell you how to make playing in time fun, how to do it on the cheap, as well as why you must practice with a Time Keeper.
Why You Need To Play To A Time Keeper ?
What Is A Time Keeper?
As a Record Producer everyday I watch musicians of all ages come into the studio and have their performances dissected under the microscope of the studio environment. There is a common trend I see:
1. If the musician is used to playing to a sloppy drummer 9 times out of 10 he is going to be pretty sloppy.
2. If the musician is used to writing songs at home and playing to something like garageband loop in his computer he is tight as can be.
3. Sometimes we do find musicians who are sloppy who play with really tight drummers, but once we show them a few simple tricks we can usually get them playing much tighter FAST!
Why Playing To A Time Keeper Matters
Most of us were not born with rhythm, it is something we need to practice and learn. Whether you play in The New York Philharmonic , The Decemberists or Lamb Of God , playing in time is one of the things that make a great band, great. The power a Chopin piece has played by a sloppy high school band and a palm muted Mars Volta song have all comes from everyone playing in sync with each other. If you want to rise to be the cream of the crop you need to make sure your time base is solid.
You Have To Learn To Walk Before You Can Run
Bands often come into the studio wanting to play live to get a natural feel. The one thing many of them forget is you need to get your sea legs first. Any band that sounds great on a record playing without a Time Keeper, actually can play really tight to a Time Keeper. They have graduated past the need to still use the Time Keeper, they can now walk on their own without the crutch of the Time Keeper. Now just cause you don’t need the crutch does not mean you still may not want to use it for what it is good for: An absolute reference of the tempo of a piece of music.
In the next part we will cover how you can make using a Time Keeper fun and ways to incorporate it into your practice routine.