Mike Outram

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How To Improve Your Timing & Rhythmic Accuracy

How To Improve Your Rhythmic Accuracy

Are you getting saucy looks from band mates every time you play a solo break? Or do you have that horrible floating sensation when your solos go awry? Do you lose track of where the beat is?

Well, worry not! for here is a little metronome-based exercise that can help you with your rhythmic accuracy, and time feel.

Now, A Word of Warning: Some people view exercises with metronomes as cold and unmusical.

And I’d agree.

Just like scales, arpeggios, intervals, strings and cables are unmusical. They’re just things that might help you make some music. Just like brushes and paint are to a painter. So take a deep breath, CHILLAX, and try this…

The Big Idea

So the usual way of using a metronome is to have it click on every beat. If you’re a bit more advanced, maybe you’ve tried placing the click on beats 1 and 3, or beats 2 and 4. This means that the metronome is generating the beat, and you have to align your time to it.

I want to sell you on the idea of placing the click on a subdivision of the beat.

This means that YOU have to generate the beat. Practising this way means you’re working on your time and making it stronger.

Here’s how you can apply the idea to practice a triplet feel.

Rhythmic Accuracy Exercise #1

Avoiding placing the click on beat one leaves you two places to put the click: The 2nd or 3rd quavers.

So, In one bar of 3/8 that’d be here:

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or here:

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In simpler terms. If you count each beat like this: 123, 123, 123, 123. You just put the click on the 2 (as in the 1st example) or 3 (as in the second example).

Hearing The Click

If you’ve not done this before it’s a bit tricky to feel the click in the right place. You might be drawn to hearing the click as a downbeat all the time. So to put the click on the last triplet, do this:

Start the click at 60 bpm and count three even quavers in the space of one click. (123, 123, etc)

That’s the rate at which the quavers sound.

Now hear the click as the last quaver and put your downbeat on the next quaver. Feel it as going ‘and, one’ with the ‘and’ co-inciding with the metronome click. You can even trick yourself into hearing this by calling the click ‘3’, and saying ‘312, 312’, etc, and then mentally shifting your beat to the 1.

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Got it?

Now play a repeated dotted crotchet on the beat [you’re playing on the downbeat while the metronome is clicking on the 3rd quaver]

Keep it steady.

Good?

Try playing a scale.

Still good?

You have to feel where the pulse should be to keep feeling the metronome click as the last quaver. Continue to do this until you can keep the beat and you don’t switch the metronome around so that you’re playing with the clicks.

Rhythmic Variations

Practise all the variations below to improve your rhythmic accuracy. Where you have a long note you can either play it for its full duration or play it as a quaver; do it both ways. [the top line shows the rhythms to practise; the bottom line is where the metronome click is]

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Now improvise. Stay within the triplet feel, always focusing on keeping the beat rock-solid and making sure everything sits exactly in that feel. If you lose awareness of the beat for a second you’ll rush or drag and the click will immediately feel different. It might shift to a straight 8th feel; or, you’ll shift by a quaver and the click will be on the beat.

Accuracy & Concentration

So to do this requires accuracy of how you feel the pulse & subdivisions, as well as having your technique be pin-point and not rushing or dragging. Also you’ll need to maintain your focus. And these things require time. Go easy on yourself!

I’d suggest trying this for 5 minutes every day. View it like trying to get better at ice-skating – the first time you have a go it’s very unlikely you’ll be able to stay on your feet. Stick with it, and soon you’ll start to feel more relaxed and sure of your time.

Other things to try

More Abstract Ideas

Here are some more ideas that you’re going to have to have a think about. Play around with them and see what you come up with.

Right, time for biscuits… Feel free to share any rhythmic related ideas/thoughts/gibberish below or perhaps share your favourite rhythmically interesting music. Why do you like it? What is going on?

If this seems too hard and you still want to get a smokin’ time feel, all you really have to do is jam along to records and pay close attention to making what you do feel just like what they do.

[highlight]If you want to hear these examples and go further into rhythmic study, you need to check out ElectricCampfire.com. We’ve got some great actionable lessons that’ll show you exactly how to do this kind of thing and more.[/highlight]

Until the next time!

-Mike