Ways to Improve Timing

Barnezy

I’m hoping people can share a few ways in which to improve timing. 

robinbowes

I learned when I was 14 by playing most of the Sex Pistols repetoire with a drummer in my local youth club. Steve Jones is a machine!

neilg

Try to stomp your foot in time whilst playing but avoid stomping what your playing.  I picked this up from Paul Gilbert on the Artistworks site and it's really helped me.

CarpeDiem

There are a number of options. Use a metronome, tap your feet as @neilg said or nod your head, count in your head as you're playing, play along with a song, or play with a good drummer if you get the chance. If you're looking at odd time signatures, counting the beats becomes even more important. (I found some good odd time signature videos from bass players on YouTube which helped me).

Paul7926

Actually tapping my foot helped me. I thought I could just count in my head but it never worked well when I was trying to concentrate on playing. Felt silly at first but it did help. 

Barnezy

Thanks guys. I do tap my foot. I think where I struggle is when there a large gaps between notes, as I don’t tend to count. I was playing Albatross by Fleetwood Mac the other day and it sarts on the 4 and then there are odd sized gaps between notes. I typically ended up coming in early. 

Are there any specific exercises anyone can recommend, that I can add to my routine? 

Handsome_Chris

@Barnezy , please forgive me if I come across as patronising, have you done any picking exercises?

neilg

I probably should have been clearer when I said stomping meaning physical lifting your foot off the ground and stomping it back down rather than just tapping.

This video gives you an example, at the start and again a bit slower around 3:25

Barnezy

Thanks. 

This isn’t a picking thing. It’s when there’s a gap of 2 beats or more then the next note comes in on the “and”. I tend to come in early. 

neilg

Yeah, coming in on the "and" is something I'm working on but I do think stomping helps.

Handsome_Chris

Barnezy said:

Thanks. 

This isn’t a picking thing. It’s when there’s a gap of 2 beats or more then the next note comes in on the “and”. I tend to come in early. 

So it is not a picking thing, which would mean that you are picking the strings on time and hitting the notes which are needed to be hit, when they need to be hit?   

stratman3142

Barnezy said:

... I was playing Albatross by Fleetwood Mac the other day and it starts on the 4 and then there are odd sized gaps between notes. I typically ended up coming in early. 

Barnezy said:

...This isn’t a picking thing. It’s when there’s a gap of 2 beats or more then the next note comes in on the “and”. I tend to come in early. 

 Albatross has a triplet swing feel (i.e. a shuffle). So, if I chose to count it, it would be 1 & ah, 2 & ah..., where the off beats land on the 'ah', which is obviously later than a straight off beat. Would counting it that way help you?

DLM

You could look into this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TaKeTiNa_Rhythm_Process

That would help, but specific to your example, OP:

Victor Wooten also often demonstrates an excercise where one removes beats from a loop of several beats or bars, replacing them with silence. The challenge then is to still come back in on the "one" (or whatever). After a few bars of silence (against which you keep playing), it's a real challenge for your "inner clock".

viz

Al di Meola advocates tapping the foot and his rhythm is flabbergasting:

https://youtu.be/TZ4FZ80Qdd8

pmbomb

haha @barnezy we must have the same teacher! ;-)

one tip I saw was to play to a metronome set to half speed, so you have to play notes in the gaps. so that's a simple version of @DLM's suggestion I guess.

Barnezy

DLM said:

You could look into this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TaKeTiNa_Rhythm_Process

That would help, but specific to your example, OP:

Victor Wooten also often demonstrates an excercise where one removes beats from a loop of several beats or bars, replacing them with silence. The challenge then is to still come back in on the "one" (or whatever). After a few bars of silence (against which you keep playing), it's a real challenge for your "inner clock".

I guess that is this exercise. https://youtu.be/DahIXjUiGBk 

Barnezy

viz said:

Al di Meola advocates tapping the foot and his rhythm is flabbergasting:

https://youtu.be/TZ4FZ80Qdd8

This guy is spot on and example 3 is exactly what I’m talking about. Thanks for sharing. 

Fuengi

What really helped me was to use a shaker on my strumming hand while practicing. 

DLM

Yeah, that Davids video talks about what I remembered from the Wooten clinic. Lots of other people have suggested the same thing, dunno where Wooten got it from or where it originated.

Grangousier

Something that helped me a lot, when I was doing a lot of cross picking, was if the pick goes down on a downbeat (and up on an upbeat), it's possible to mark time by waggling the pick up and down but it doesn't make contact with the string. And counting out loud. And definitely metronome, otherwise we tend to edit time to make things easier for ourselves.

Lestratcaster

Metronome, drum loop programmes, anything with a beat to play along to. Work on your rhythm subdivisions, quarter/eighths, alternate strums, triplets etc, without losing your place in the bar, or music, etc. Playing with other people is a good way but if not then do it in digital format, and always play along to the original recording if learning songs to get an ear of feel and counting. For some reason many people find it hard to count 1,2,3,4, and clap on wrong parts of the "pulse" e.g audience members clapping on 1 and 3. Instead of 2 and 4.