olly hock
1 post
Feb 17, 2008
1:40 PM
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i think as a beginer youre far too obsessed with spewing out your whole repetoire within a few seconds as if your trying to prove to people you can play. if you look at the early blues masters the gaps of silence in between licks are as intense as the harp playing.if you watch jason ricci and adam gussow even after years of playing theyre still tapping there foot keeping the timing right at all times.thats what impressed me watching and hearing the natt riddles cuts, his timing is about the best ive heard.
adam is right as a beginner you tend to find that you speed up as if your rushing to get it all out.its a basic thing to learn and should be practised as much as the harp playing ,but i wonder how many of us neglect it and leap frog it to get to the exiting bit ,blowing the harp
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dewey.deloe
8 posts
Feb 17, 2008
4:44 PM
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Timing is much harder than I thought it would be.
I still do the thing Adam warned about. My foot stops when I get the a tricky part of a song. Of course when I get better at the the riff the foot keeps going.
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Down the road I got to go
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Tweed
1 post
Feb 21, 2008
6:28 PM
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Timing is not easy but very important especially when you are playing with others. What helped me was playing AG's lessons to 12 bar jam tracks I picked up, like David Barrett's. First the slow then faster shuffles and then other grooves. Also foot taping helps when playing with a band where hearing your harp playing is difficult. Also playing percussively, Gindick's lesson, also helped.
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birdman
16 posts
Mar 26, 2008
3:04 PM
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i to am finding timing difficult especially when i get to along run tapping of the foot goes strait out of the window any advice would be great i have of course watched all the vids i guess its just practice
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loud4
5 posts
Mar 26, 2008
3:40 PM
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You guys should try Adams harp tracks great music to play to,or go on harmonicajam.com lots of tracks there to play and you can post your song and get feed back also.It really helps
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Spl20
4 posts
Jan 07, 2009
10:59 PM
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I'm glad to know I'm not the only one that is timing challenged. I've been working alot with a metronome that I linked to on my computer and it gave some advise from a drummer about keeping time. He said to get better at keeping time you should play a single note "on the beat" of the metronome set at 60, do this 60 times and record it when you listen back you grade yourself as to how well you do and you can easily hear if you are before , on or after the beat.
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SilasJackson
17 posts
Jan 07, 2009
11:38 PM
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My nephew, the 13 year old, been playing two years, guitar virtuoso, wanted a metronome for Christmas. I got him a digital one. Maybe one of these or a computer software metronome will help some of us. I can tap my foot OK, but like dewey and birdman, MY foot sometimes gets disconnected from my so called brain and then BOOM! The recording idea for a grade is excellent.
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Andrew
56 posts
Jan 07, 2009
11:56 PM
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I'd say do what works for you. As a classical musician I was told never to tap my feet. And metronomes were frowned upon as being mechanical things not fit for more than a little child - subliminal rubato is essential for feeling. But I think metronomes have a valid use if you are interested in time signatures - but even then an orchestra conductor will just use his wristwatch. Accelerating is as much a problem for classical musicians as it is for blues musicians. But I have seen classical musicians who tapped their feet, and I'm pretty sure Jimi Hendrix never did. The main thing is always to be wary of acceleration. When you play, listen to yourself. It sounds like a truism, but it's not: some musicians make notes and don't hear the sound.
I quite like tapping my foot when I'm playing the harmonica - it's part of the ethos! And just as subliminal rubato is essential, so, on the other hand, is keeping the beat - we had a guy at work asking around "how do you become a lead guitarist?" and I snidely replied "by being a rhythm guitarist for 5 years first". I think that's one of the things that distinguishes Hendrix (at his best) from all the other so-called "lead guitarists".
But then what about Robert Johnson and those 3-note and 5-note bars? Were they, or did he screw up, or was it flaws in the recording techniques?
Oh well, I've edited this a few times. Sorry if there's incoherence in it.
Last Edited by on Jan 08, 2009 12:25 AM
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LIP RIPPER
17 posts
Jan 08, 2009
6:42 AM
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YA THINK YOU HAVE THE BEAT? PLAY ALONG WITH A METRONOME. IT'LL SURPRISE YA.
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Preston
83 posts
Jan 08, 2009
10:01 AM
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I usually have the beat, but I stink at keeping the time. Usually I'm still playing the I chord into the 5th bar so I only get one bar of the IV chord, but I found that shocks me back into Paying attention, so I'm usually ready when it changes to the V.
I like to lie through my teeth and tell the guys I'm jamming with that I'm "floating over the first 8 bars, and I'll see you at the V chord."
Glad to hear others have trouble with it too.
YOUARERIGHTLIPRIPPER,PLAYINGALONGWITHTHEMETRONOME ISHARDERTHANITLOOKS.
Last Edited by on Jan 08, 2009 10:03 AM
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Buddha
5 posts
Jan 08, 2009
10:39 AM
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having good time is not about playing ON the beat but being able to play WITH the beat.
Many years ago I was hanging with Bela Fleck after a show. He mentioned that my time is perfect for funky stuff but I have a tendency to rush on really intricate passages. He said the difference is whether or not I FEEL the music or THINK the music.
He pulled out a metronome and put it in front of me. He made me play the G major scale over and over. On the down beat, on the up beat, slightly before the beat, slightly after the beat, on top of the beat.
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CarolynViolin
18 posts
Jan 08, 2009
11:33 AM
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Andrew,
Yes, those of us who have been classically trained, like you and I, are told never to tap our feet. I do have a metronome. Believe it or not, I've only tried using it two or three times. I think that the metronome can become a crutch. It is much better to try and build a good sense of timing and not rely on crutches. Also, you don't want to over reply on a metronome so that you sound like you're playing an exercise or just notes with no expression. My metronome is in my head. After all my years of experience of playing in orchestras and following conductors, plus playing first violin in string quartets and being the leader and establishing the beat, plus playing as a soloist or with other musicians on "strolling" jobs, I have a very excellent and reliable sense of timing. Yes, there is always the possibility of accelerating, but I think that maintaining a steady beat is all a matter of very careful listening and intense concentration, plus carefully watching the other musicians who you are working with. If you are doing that and not getting distracted, you shouldn't have a major problem. As far as blues goes, I see you've mentioned Robert Johnson. His music was very challenging for me. That's because the beat is so erratic, like with "Terraplain Blues", but you get that quite a bit with delta blues. Rory Block is another one who uses the same type of erratic beat.
Carolyn
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bluesnut
55 posts
Jan 08, 2009
12:35 PM
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After going over all the good advice I think I will stick with the AG counting the 12 bar blues lesson. I had been playing harp for over a year when it came out. I go back to it frequently and it has helped the most for timing. It ties right in with CarolynViolin's ideas. To me, it seems better to play with the music to get the feel of the music.
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bluzlvr
99 posts
Jan 08, 2009
1:23 PM
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I've found the best thing for me is to listen to recordings of myself (if possible) when jamming with other musicians. I've heard my self doing things I was unaware of, like rushing from one lick to another, even though I was technically on time with the rest of the musicians.
(Ever thought about the fact that we really DO play licks on the harp?)
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MrVerylongusername
100 posts
Jan 08, 2009
3:39 PM
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Don't tap your feet - dance! Get into the groove! it looks better. Too many harp players stand still like statues.
Think you can't dance? don't worry, it never did Jagger or Joe Cocker any harm. Even bad dancing is better than no movement at all. You don't have to go overboard (I'm reminded of the Fred Yonnet discussion), but a little gentle swaying goes a long way.
You dance - the audience feels more comfortable doing the same.
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SilasJackson
21 posts
Jan 08, 2009
8:00 PM
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Roy Orbison
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