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Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 6:16 am
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Aspiring Musician
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hottrod wrote:
I really don't like to use a metronome because then it kinda takes away the fun of learning how to be able to time things out on your own. And it seems just a little too much like music class to me. I like to let the timing adjust to me and not vice versa.


First of all, I'm not picking on you specifically, hotrod, but addressing every player who says these things (and your post addresses the biggest reasons why guitar players won't use a metronome in practice). I'm not blaming you at all: these are ideas that just kind of go around among guitar players.

1. "I really don't like to use a metronome because then it kinda takes away the fun of learning how to be able to time things out on your own."

Actually, using a metronome is precisely HOW you lean to be able feel time on your own. I was born with an incredibly good internal clock, but I still sucked until I spent 10 years practicing against an immovable click. Now my time is so solid that it draws praise from drummers.

2. "And it seems just a little too much like music class to me."

Well, yeah. But do you want to get good? Or do you just want to fart around?

3. "I like to let the timing adjust to me and not vice versa."

Tons of players say something like this, usually giving the statement some kind of artistic spin, as if conforming to a clock was somehow anti-soul or something. But if you don't learn to play in time, "adjusting" yourself to the beat, then not only will you never really be any good, but you will never be able to play in time with other musicians.

Why do I even care enough to write this much? Because this is really important. There are two crucially important aspects of making music neglected by 99% or all guitar owners: playing in tune, and playing in time. If you can't do both, then you suck, straight up. You are a terrible player if you can't play in tune and in time, and yet every lousy bar band I ever heard - groups of guys who begged me to come out and hear how they "nailed" some batch of songs or another - is playing out of tune and out of time, and I can't stand to listen to 'em for even one drink. These are the same guys who will stand around and discuss endlessly about what music is important and which makes them mad, what people should and shouldn't like, and how their own elevated position as "musicians" gives them a rarified sense of taste that ordinary people who don't own guitars can't understand.... all the while butchering other people's songs, creating an unfocused noise and calling it "music."

The word "musician" is just like the word "technician." If you don't learn the basic stuff, then you don't deserve the title.

Now, if you want to sit in your house and goof around with a guitar and not play to a click, I think that's just fine... I've got lots of friends who do that, and they really enjoy it, and that's beyond great. But if you don't want to learn to play in time, then don't go out and torture people in performance.


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Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 6:22 am
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Aspiring Musician
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I used to think that my timing was OK until I recorded myself and played the music back. I learned that my timing would change during the course of the song. Since then, I play with a metronome until I am confident in my timing. I consider the metronome to be an indispensable tool.


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Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 4:44 pm
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All a metronome is is a substitute drummer. If you can't play in time to a metronome you won't be able to play in time with a band. If you don't plan on playing with a band, cool. If you do.... work on your timing or wait till your band members start telling you you can't keep time. There's nothing elitist about learning how to play in time....with a drummer or a metronome.

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Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 4:54 pm
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1 2 3 4 l 1 2 3 4 l 1 2 3 4 l 1 2 3 4 l 1 2 3 4 l 1 2 3 4 l 1 2 3 4 l 1234

oops.

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