Get On The Good Foot: Timing For Guitarists

The beat? Isn't that the drummer's department? Come on, what else are those guys for?

Well, besides giving drummers a friendly run for their money, delivering a long-winded lecture about timing is another one of those things that I consider fun. I really need to get a life. The beat, ladies and girlymen! Possessing a good sense of time in music is what separates the wannabes for the gods, and makes a mediocre guitarist sound dynamite. That “secret sauce, ” if you will. And, let's face it, drummers and bass players, the stereotypical time-keepers of the band, mess up every now and then. If they can turn to a guitarist with a rock solid sense of time for a reference, the song will go on without too much pain and suffering.

One of my music teachers pointed an interesting thing out to me once: Guitarists and piano players are often bad at keeping a rock solid rhythm, and for good reason. We are allowed to get away with more. If we're jamming around the campfire, or playing piano in a hotel lobby – time may be interpreted a bit more loosely. However, if a drummer did that on a gig, he or she would be promptly fired. Hey, why am I going on about this? You gotta be on beat, bro! End of story! If you need more explanation, soldier, do fifty arpeggios and then fifty push ups... And then fifty more arpeggios!

How To Do So

OK – now that we're all convinced... Here's how we can get started to being a human metronome! (Just imagine the great conversation you can have. I bet you'll really “click” with a lot of folks.) First off - buy a metronome. It's a super important investment, and I don't wanna hear no squabblin' – buy one. If I read something in the comments on this article about how you don't need one, I'm gonna pay you a little visit, and shove a metronome in your ear, sucka – so be warned!

Whew, I must have been channeling Mr. T. there – that happens once in a while. 'Scuse me. Now, before the wail goes up from the lead guitarists saying “but a metronome is just for the rhythm guys!, ” let me remind you that a metronome serves as a great speedometer. It allows you to see how fast you can consistently play, and lets you set goals. Just as a quarter mile time and speedometer is essential to tuning a great race car, so to is a metronome for a wicked awesome guitarist. Now, in the meantime, march on over to www.metronomeonline.com and use that till your handy dandy music box comes in the mail.

Rev. Josh Says...

I'm an ordained minister. Really! But very similar to Lyle in George of the Jungle. (Mail order.) And as a man of the cloth, and now, as a man of the beat, I'd like to introduce you to...

The Four Commandments Of The Metronome

1. Ye shall practice slower than ye thinks ye shall need to.
2. Ye shall practice perfectly.
3. Ye shall only increase the speed of the metronome only after ye can play it perfectly at the current tempo. However, ye can try to play a bit above the speed limit, and then back it down.
4. If ye finds a better way to do things, more power to ye. And God rest ye, merry gentleman.

Now What?

Pop goes the weasel, and click goes the metronome. So what, and more importantly, now what? Here's a few nifty ideas on how to practice with one. If you've got any others, send 'em along! I'd love to hear 'em.

Bury the Beat - wow, that sounds very Celtic-metal. But seriously, folks, here's a simple, yet tremendously effective way to practice. Set the metronome at a moderate speed, say, 100 beats per minute (commonly abbreviated as BPM.) Pluck a single note on every other click. If you do it right, the note will “cancel” out the metronome sound, and you'll bury the beat. Rock on! Why pick on every other note? I find that this helps me keep time, and gives me a chance to reset to what the metronome is doing. You could, of course, play on every beat. The choice is up to you. To make this more than a few notches harder, don't use a note. Simply mute out the strings with your left hand, and strum on every other beat. What's the big deal? For me, I tend to be a bit early when I play the note, something typical of rock musicians. A note rings for a split second longer than a muted strum, and covers up errors more. A strum is very unforgiving, and hence, it's a heavier weight for your chops. Don't be a girlyman!

Practice Everything With It – especially Scales Playing your exercises and working on technique with a metronome is almost a given. Do it! Play one, two, three, and four notes per click. (For a real charge, try playing five notes per click! Or seven! Odd numbers other than three seem to be tricky.) Which brings us to our next section...

Subdivide The Beat - No, no, it's not another plan to hack up the nice woods and build McMansions and other assorted houses. Since the drummer (hopefully) won't alter their tempo throughout a song, it makes sense that if we want to play faster, we need to do so in increments of quarter, eighth, sixteenth, and thirty-second notes. John Petrucci in his veritable technique bible Rock Discipline suggests starting with the metronome on a slow tempo, and instead of increasing the speed of the 'nome, simply play twice (or three or four times) as many notes per click. Makes sense!

Play Songs To The Metronome - it might be slow at first, but lining everything up to a click track is a fabulous way to tighten things up.

Obey the commandments - yep!

Drum Machines

OK, so you're ready to flush that stupid metronome down the toilet. You know it's helping you, but man it's annoying. Time to check out drum machines. Let it be noted: You need both. Don't substitute. Get 'em both. A drum machine provides more interest, and can be a great aid if you're into songwriting. Funner (I like to make up words) to practice with than a metronome, it's a great way to get into different styles of music. Moreover, learning about beats will only help your musicianship.

And the good news is – there's some awesome free programs out there. Hammerhead and Hydrogen are two of my favorites. Check out a song of mine called But What About My Life? for an example of a track recorded with Hydrogen drums. (You can find it on my myspace)

Keep in mind that Hydrogen is designed for a Linux operating system, but can be run on Windows and Mac systems. I'm running Windows (sucks to be me), and it works for me. Be sure to download the one for your operating system. If you have any problems downloading or using these programs, GIYF. (Try googling that to see what it means. The irony.)

Here's the links for software: Hydrogen, Hammerhead.

Programming them is fairly intuitive, but I'll follow up this article with a short tutorial on how to do so. Stay tuned, boys and girls!

Transcribe For Transcendence

Well, maybe it won't be that good, but our next idea is an intriguing, albeit challenging, one. The concept is this: Listen to a drum beat, and see if you can copy it on a drum machine. It's exactly like figuring out a song on the guitar, except we're dealing with drums and beats, instead of notes. This increases awareness of the beat, teaches how drummers approach different styles, and is just plain hard! The bonus is – at the end of the day, you'll have some neat beats to jam over!

Jam

Find some funky musicians to jam with. Hang out with folks with impeccable timing. Two gigs stand out in my mind that have helped me with my own sense of time. The first was being the only white fella in an all black funk band. I had eleven teachers in that band, and man, I had to learn fast. Playing next to conga and percussion players for hours was bound to sink in to my thick skull of Lithuanian descent (Latin for third world country of white people that have absolutely no sense of time.) The second gig was my summer stint as a solo acoustic guitarist on the street. Jamming for hours and being the only source of time was excellent practice. The improvement in my rhythm by the fall was encouraging, to me, at least.

Playing with musicians who are better than you is one of the fastest ways to improvement. Find some cats who know their stuff when it comes to time.

Wrappin' Up, And A Few More Ideas.

Listen to groovy music. I'm a rock musician, and I always plan on remaining one. However, listening to funk, soul, and Latin helps me a lot. You are what you listen to – so get on the good foot!

Practice with a metronome and drum machine. Now, sucka!

Download Hydrogen and Hammerhead.

Visit metronomeonline.com for a free online metronome.

Practice burying the beat.

Practice subdividing the beat.

Practice songs with the metronome.

Obey the commandments (at least loosely), and come up with new ideas.

Make a good sense of time a priority.

By applying these ideas to your practice, I feel that you'll benefit greatly. Shredders, I can see you sitting in the corner, saying “no way, Jose! ” This ain't fo' me! ” I'd counter that with the fact that a good sense of time helps in any style of music, be it disco or death metal. Plus, it's fun to practice these principles. Do yourself a favor, and make it a goal to be the “grooviest guy” (or gal) in the band.

Rock On!

Got questions? Head on over to The Doghouse (my blog), and I'll answer 'em. See ya there! And don't forget to check out my website, and I'm always lookin' for new friends on myspace.

Copyright 2008 Josh Urban - All Rights Reserved.

Josh Urban (photo) is a musician with a unique perspective on music. Always a thinker, he gains insight wherever he can find it, be it in the clubs as a working musician, busking on the city streets, or teaching in the classroom. A naturally enthusiastic fellow, Josh is always fired up about bringing the lessons he’s learned to his readers. Maintaining a website, a blog, and a monthly newsletter, he aims to make musicians stop, think, and play with a little more intensity, integrity, and inspiration. You never know who’s listening.

Comments

[Zooropean11]

This is pretty accurate actually. Even Al Di Meola says something along these lines about keeping time. It does sound rather important.

[Retro Rocker]

Great article, and good effort in writing it too.

[Guitar_Dan_666]

Good article.

[rusty-knives]

What's this? Timing is the most important thing in a good shred guitarist's arsenal.
Oh yes, timing is indeed... VERY important.

[tedhellcaster]

I'LL REMEMBER THE FOUR COMMANDMENTS OF THE METRONOME

[Sonicxlover]

Good shit. I needed this.

[Tenacious D'er]

Nice lesson, I'm only just starting to get into concepts such as timing, technique and theory. This had helped a lot!

[Wasp]

Very cool article

[akhimakhi93]

lol i was expecting him to say "ill shove a metronome up your ass" rather than "ear" looool

[manwithplan]

yay could u forward this to every person he learns an instrument with out playing in a band proper? cause those idiots cant play with others! haha

[Shard Heilia]

Great article, your stuff is awesome, Josh. I'll definitely be working on this.

[Zeppelin Addict]

this is just what ive been needing to read by far my biggest fault in my playing thanks josh!

[thrashing moles]

metronomes is fo bichezzzzz

[CaiMartlew]

Good article most guitarists do need a better sense of timing.
The only criticism I have is that the writing style is too informal.

[theotherguy7145]

thrashing moles wrote:

metronomes is fo bichezzzzz

lol. just saying that to see it you get a free metronome stuck in your ear arn't you! xD

[heminder]

hydrogen rules! linux rules!
metronomes are surprisingly useful. very underrated. and they're dirt cheap. they're on ebay for £1.

[vinnie107]

Well said josh. nice to see some attempted humour too.

[Spay]

Wow, I tried the 'drowning the beat' thing. My natural sense of timing is extremely off. I'm glad I read this article =D

[Guitarfreak777]

I like this guy.

[The_Raven]

:haha: That's awesome, keep them coming my friend.

[justinb904]

nice article, and i like the way he writes
and i know from experience that using a metronome to learn beat is very useful, honestly i can keep beat as well as my drummer now and it helps a lot

[dfresh91]

WAAAAAHHHHH

[archangelseren]

thanks i hope this helps my playing as you said it would!

[fagelamusgtr]

Great article, like always.
Thanks. You really helped me with knowing some theory, so i'm definetely gonna try some of this stuff.

[mdwallin]

heh.. i googled GIYF

awesome tips there, thanks :P

[Seattle_sound35]

cool, i'm gonna use this

[kirkadolph]

akhimakhi93 wrote:

lol i was expecting him to say "ill shove a metronome up your ass" rather than "ear" looool

i'm sure it crossed his mind. Haha.

[raviction]

A very cool lesson. Thanks for telling about the drum machine.

[mystical_1]

What if it's too hard with the metronome? Should one give up on guitar or the hope of being in a band and becomming excellent, one day? Just asking. I agree that it is important for success but success is a relative term. Good article, btw, thanks.

[Bluestube]

kirkadolph wrote:

akhimakhi93 wrote:

lol i was expecting him to say "ill shove a metronome up your ass" rather than "ear" looool

i'm sure it crossed his mind. Haha.

well you can't hear the metronome when it is in your ass can you?

[JoshUrban]

mystical_1 wrote:

What if it's too hard with the metronome? Should one give up on guitar or the hope of being in a band and becomming excellent, one day? Just asking. I agree that it is important for success but success is a relative term. Good article, btw, thanks.

Mystical_1,
A good question. No, never let anyone tell you to give up, and never give up. Here's two quotes that I like to remember when I'm packing up to go to a lousy gig, or if I'm getting stumped by some guitar piece:

1. If it was easy, everyone would do it.
2. "It's a long way to the top, if you wanna rock 'n roll."

I'm sure you'll get the hang of working with a metronome. It's weird for everyone at first, but if you can play, you can play to a metronome. Try concentrating less on your playing, and more on listening to the little clicker.

Hard work will lead to more success than you can possibly imagine. You'll surprise yourself!

Rock on!
Josh

[fleh]

hopefully not

[isabiggles]

Awesome.

Finally, a writer who doesn't bore me to death!

[Nightfyre]

Great article! I've been following these tips for years, but it's great to see them written up for all of UG. Very well done.
The guy's right about pianists and guitarists, they really are among the worst for playing in time. All the more reason to get that metronome.

[KyuNaynne]

great article, I found it very helpful.. and I really like the way it's written, too

[kirkadolph]

Bluestube wrote:

kirkadolph wrote:

akhimakhi93 wrote:

lol i was expecting him to say "ill shove a metronome up your ass" rather than "ear" looool

i'm sure it crossed his mind. Haha.


well you can't hear the metronome when it is in your ass can you?

Bluestube wrote:

kirkadolph wrote:

akhimakhi93 wrote:

lol i was expecting him to say "ill shove a metronome up your ass" rather than "ear" looool

i'm sure it crossed his mind. Haha.


well you can't hear the metronome when it is in your ass can you?

speaking of asses...

[kamayzing]

I was impressed with this article. I also liked the corny jokes

[ifeastonbums]

awesome article, and good writing style

[MonsterOfRock]

Very helpful article for anyone regardless of skill level. The first instrument I learnt was the drums and i can tell you that it has helped me immensely. Any guitarist should learn the art of timekeeping even before they think of learning a 2octave minor sweep. It helps you escape the death if ur rhythm players eff up during a gig or you're having monitoring problems.

[MonsterOfRock]

And yea, the article was nicely put together, foo!

[soapalot]

This is easily the article that has most helped me on this website. I can see myself vastly improving with this knowledge.

[hiphopopotamus]

I would have liked a little more in the subdivision part. Like how when counting by yourself without a metronome or beat keeper its easier to stay on time and not loose tempo if you count the subdivisions to each beat as well. If you only count/think downbeats you'll almost always speed up or slow down without noticing.

[strat0blaster]

Good article. Like the others (The Crusade, which single handedly got me far enough to make sense of Theory), it's very useful.

I think I'd actually pay this guy for lessons.

for people who moan about tom hess constantly posting his advertisements, you lot mention him enough to do away with them.

checked.

[metal4ever6328]

You must use a metronome. And it is true what he says about drum machines and song ideas. I used to use my drum machine as a metronome and I would come up with some good licks.

[Sudaka]

well, I had a metronome at home, but I didn't use it...

now I am, I already bought some rechargeable batteries for it, and little by little (though maybe it is just my imagination) I am getting the idea..


thank you Josh (clearly, everybody loves around 'ere, hahahha)

[Table Salt]

This is a very well written article. Although to some it may not offer too much new material, it offers past material with a positive attitude and some fantastic advice too. Every newbie musician should read this article! I really hope you write some more, well done.

[gringo4573]

timing is what im probly best at since i was a drummer before getting in2 the guitar...but thats about all drumming will help u with when it comes 2 playin guitar lol

[Wingate]

Great article man, I plan on using my metronome more now.

[captaincrunk]

wonderful!

[Fazuma]

Ye shall practice slower than ye thinks ye shall need to. Your flippin funny man. HYAH!!! *rides away on a horse*

[IS10]

that was pretty sick. i loved your writing style man. you know your stuff, but its really casual and easy to understand. you get to the point without getting lost in the theory that many other teachers do, and it just loses the fun. this keeps the awesomeness (im making up my own words too :P ) , and teaches important techniques at the same time. good on ya!

[Punk-Rockin]

I play rhythm guitar and sing so...
+1

[ScythePuppet]

*Whisper* You wrote 'ye' instead of 'thou'...

but other than that, great article! Really learnt something today.

[CLaSH88]

Thanks heaps man "click" it worked.... "click"

[dageri1]

I've been playing guitar for over ten years and can tell you from playing out in my area that timing is really taken for granted by everyone. Good timing makes simple bands with little chops sound better than sophisticated bands that are sloppy or out of the pocket. A friend of mine back in the 90's said he went to a festival with Janes Addiction, Primus, and the Pixies. He was a fan of the first two bands and had never heard of the Pixies. He was shocked that such a simple band blew away the other bands and that was just because they were tight. This article is a good reminder to everyone.... ....Thanx!!!!

[forevergrounded]

Great article, funny-ish and it helped me alot.
\,,/

[bassetrox]

Another really good article Josh.

[Brendan.Clace]

I have been playing for 4 years or so and have gotten to know rhythm quite well. I usually find that the bands who play in off time signatures usually have the tightest rhythm....

All of the music i write is odd time and I honestly have never played with a metronome (I've messed around with one, but it never really made me happy).

I personally feel that rhythm is an internal thing and that all these people with exceptionally good rhythm and time have internal metronomes so to speak, constantly clicking in their heads.

Just a thought.

[jshwak]

Good article.. very well written, the jokes were a great side-dish, and the info was a wonderful dining experience!

[kennyvspenny]

I don't really like the writing style, but everything that was said is mad truth!

[Ricardo Melo]

thanks man,this article helps me a lot, i praticed with the metronome but i didn´t know what i did, thanks again.

[Skin the Sun]

Great article as usual Josh.

[Paul Tauterouff]

Great lesson Josh and I love your writing style! This is an area where many self-taught guitarists are lacking. Lots of value here!

[new_age_reject]

Yeah great article written in a style that managed to keep my interest.
Seriously guys, it may be boring as hell at times practising to a metronome but its something you have to do and believe me, give it a few of weeks of regular structured practice and you will certainly notice the difference!

[ShadesOfNight]

another thing to practice with a metronome is syncopation. very helpful technique for drummers, bassists and guitarists alike. makes music sound a lot more interesting.
good article though

[MichaelOfCanton]

the excelent advice was totally canceled out by the terrible humor.

[xXForget itXx]

metronome in ear = sooo hot

[jpob]

i can get free metronomes online so whats the point.

P.S. thanks for the free metronome you SHOULD put in km ear soon

[JoshUrban]

Hey, has anyone seen the cell phone metronome they have on metronomeonline.com? It looks pretty nifty. Talk about a handy way to warm up before a show!

[Zeldaik]

MichaelOfCanton wrote:

the excelent advice was totally canceled out by the terrible humor.

I agree.