My Metronome is Freaking Me Out

[motoguzzibob]

Earth to Griff!

I am sensing a real need here!  You could probably do a whole dvd an how to get us through this!

There are some brilliant suggestions here and I agree that maybe there could be an extra dvd guiding us through this and collating the hints/ advice on this post - this added to the brilliance of Griff's teaching and knowledge would help tremendously.

 

[560sdl]

Some would say it is a boring topic, but I honestly feel it is one of the things holding me back.  I would think Griff could come up with some cool exercises and play alongs that would start slow and work up in tempo and complexity.

 

[Russ]

OK! I think you guys are on to something!!!!!!!!!


HEY GRIFF! How 'Bout It? Another Course!! I'd start with the slower stuff. The slower it is, the harder it is for me and that's why I won't let myself advance.

 

[MikeS]

Sorry if this has already been said, but you really don't need to "listen" to the metronome, you need to feel it. You should be able to bob your head or tap your foot along with it then try playing a scale with one note per beat. Again don't listen for the beat, feel it. I hope that doesn't sound too Zen, but for me, the beat is in my head and the metronome or drums or even bass just reinforce where I am.

 

[IrishRover]

yeah Mike that's the way it is with me too...........think of when you're listening to a song on the radio and just tapping your finger or your foot to the beat unconsciously.  It's something you don't really have to think about - just feel it.  If you have to think about it or wait until you hear the tick/click/thump/beep you're always gonna be late.  Just feeeel it man.   Later dudes and dudettes  

 

[ChazInFlint]

I play the BGU discs on my laptop, so I just use metronome software. I've been using Orange Metronome for a while. You can set each beat to a different instrument (so you can always find the first beat of the measure). The software is free (evaluation copy) from this place:  

http://www.orangemetronome.com/download.htm

Didn't realize that it was only good for 30 days. I also use Weird Metronome (totally free) You can download that software from here:


http://www.pinkandaint.com/weirdmet.shtml

http://openmetronome.sourceforge.net/ has the open source version that uses wav-based sounds (realistic) as opposed to the original MIDI-sounds base Weird Metronome.

 

[560sdl]

Sorry if this has already been said, but you really don't need to "listen" to the metronome, you need to feel it. You should be able to bob your head or tap your foot along with it then try playing a scale with one note per beat. Again don't listen for the beat, feel it. I hope that doesn't sound too Zen, but for me, the beat is in my head and the metronome or drums or even bass just reinforce where I am.

Mike, for me, that is not the issue.  It is not keeping the main beat that has me lost.  It is counting the rests when they are not full quarter notes.  It is staring a phrase on the 5th 16th note in a measure.  It is looking at that paper and and being able to shift gears at will for something like  "1 e and a 2 and 3 4 e and a" at 120 bmp.

The main beat I can nail, no problem.  But also getting all the right notes, bends, pauses and breaths between the main notes that is the problem ;D

 

[MikeS]

I hear ya man, because I can't do it either, but I CAN hear and feel the timing. I've been strumming for over 45 years so I'm sure that helps. If I felt that I could learn the counting thing, I would keep trying, but timing was always the thing that made me stop (live) lessons, so now I rely on my internal sense of time. I AM NOT RECOMMENDING THIS TO ANYONE!!!!! If you want to get GOOD, then learn it as Griff lays it out.

 

[cowboy]

yeah Mike that's the way it is with me too...........think of when you're listening to a song on the radio and just tapping your finger or your foot to the beat unconsciously.  It's something you don't really have to think about - just feel it.  If you have to think about it or wait until you hear the tick/click/thump/beep you're always gonna be late.  Just feeeel it man.   Later dudes and dudettes  

the term I like is...."in the groove".....just listen to any good bass player and drummer........after a while it is all about feel....or so I hope....later.

cowboy

 

[jhagan421]

I hear ya man, because I can't do it either, but I CAN hear and feel the timing. I've been strumming for over 45 years so I'm sure that helps. If I felt that I could learn the counting thing, I would keep trying, but timing was always the thing that made me stop (live) lessons, so now I rely on my internal sense of time. I AM NOT RECOMMENDING THIS TO ANYONE!!!!! If you want to get GOOD, then learn it as Griff lays it out.

that's where i was going earlier - Keepping in time is not about timing ((Timing is for Guitar Hero) that's not a dig, its a fact))
there is another lenghty thread in BBG ? that goes into figuring out the timing and patterns of the BBG material without playing along with Griff, isn't that why nearly all of us bought the course? so that a great teacher would show us how to play?  I am getting a better understanding of the music before I go to the DVD's now that i've been at it for a while but I still need Griff to get me throught he first few times anywhay before I can practice it without.

 

[luckylarry]

This is a great thread and brings a lot of ideas together regarding timing, tempo, and metronome. Here is the problem I have. If there are no drums, no bass, no backing, then my timing falls apart i.e. I speed up and/or slow down, esp. if I miss a note or chord. Now it is no problem to continue on but, it is not correct. I need to keep a constant beat without the backing say when doing Sitting Easy Blues. The other problem is getting back in when I miss something, I don't always know where the one beat is cause I am concentrating on the changes I am doing and if i miss something the count goes out the window. I understand that once I have the piece down completely that I won't miss anything but that won't stop the speeding up, slowing down issue. It seems that this is another of those things that come easy to some and not others. There are things that I do very easy that I see others have problems with so I guess it is a case of working on the weakness and maintain the strength.

 

[Russ]

Mike, I understand what you're saying about the feel of any piece. The problem is that since I like Country, I feel it differently than you do. What I think sounds or feels good would be way off from what you guys think sounds good, whether it's rip-snortin' or Country-lovin' (whatever the mood is at the time). I bought the course knowing that Blues is the base of Country, but they are just a little different. I have to listen to each lesson before I pick up my guitars because they almost always have a different feel to them if I don't. If we had a "freestyle" thread, my additions would be very "Country Bluesy".

I did think about starting a thread like that, but thought it would go against any progress to following lessons.

 

[MikeS]

I really don't understand the whole "practice without Griff" thing. I always have him playing along while I'm learning a piece. Then when I think I have it down I play to the backing track. I use the tabs early on to be sure I'm playing what I'm hearing. Maybe it's my problem with timing, I hear how Griff's playing it and I time/phrase it like he does.

 

[ndjordjevic]

I'm doing the same thing as Mike does. Maybe BBG works different and doesn't have a backing track for each lesson...

 

[MikeS]

I don't think BBG has both a play along and a backing track for each lesson. If I remember correctly it only has the "Play Along", but that is what I would use anyway.

 

[Russ]

The reason I don't use Griff EVERY TIME is that I get frustrated trying to keep up with him until I get the piece under my fingers. Once I can play the piece without scratching any notes, then I start listening to Griff again and trying to keep up with him.

 

[ChazInFlint]

The reason I don't use Griff EVERY TIME is that I get frustrated trying to keep up with him until I get the piece under my fingers. Once I can play the piece without scratching any notes, then I start listening to Griff again and trying to keep up with him.

Exactly how I approach it.

 

[ndjordjevic]

Hey Russ, there is away to overcome that with a software which makes a mp3s from a DVD. Then you can slow down that audio file with a riffmasterpro of similar. On my iMac i use DVD Ripper and for sure there is something similar for Win or any other platform.

 

[Russ]

My computer is getting pretty old. I don't want to stress it out any more than I need to.

 

[560sdl]

Slightly off topic, but I have been struggling with Solo 2 and was bored the other day and thought what the heck, I will just watch him play it on the DVD and that might help.  Then I realized, I HAD NEVER EVEN WATCHED DVD #3

It sure helped a little after he explained some of it, duh!