How to play off beats?

[kazuki]

hi everyone,

Stumble upon some doubts when practising.. what should it be going through our minds when we are listening to clicks and playing off beats? Stuff that are not straight and do not really have a fixed pattern to follow, beats which sounds like over over the place but still falls perfectly in the bars.. what should be going through our minds when we play them with the clicks going? cause unlike a straight beat off and random beats which cant be target to hit on the click..

lets say something like this..

http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/3479/clipboard02wxu.jpg

thanks for any help and suggestions!

 

[Hickey_]

Use your feel.

 

[Dime]

The image isnt really off beat.Its 4 counts of 4.Which is a standard beat.Unless you're talking about 5/4 or 3/4 then thats out of beat.

 

[futures]

Hmm are 5/4 and 3/4 really offbeats or just odd time signatures as opposed to the conventional 4/4?

 

[kazuki]

sorry i dont know the correct term for the stuff i am asking.. but what i am asking what is the correct approach is playing beats that are not straight and does not fall on the 1 2 3 4 of the clicks... thanks =)

 

[futures]

Just because it doesn't fall on the beat it doesn't mean that its off-time. For example, if there are 2 beats per click, then every alternate beat will fall in between the clicks. The time signature still remains as 4/4.

 

[Composer of Requiems]

Well, how to think of playing it- usually if you're totally confused you can go about it two ways-

1) Rewrite it in terms of 4/4 beat- so in this case, the first three notes would be

While this is not completely accurate in terms of feel, it'll give you an idea of how to go about doing it.

2) Just forget about the beats- take it one note at a time. e.g. for the first three notes, you'll play "Half a beat, stop a quarter of a beat, play another half a beat......."

Of course, this is easier to lose your time in.




And how to play it accurately? Keep on playing with metronome at low speeds first. I never realized how much difference that makes until I actually did it...

 

[kazuki]

hey thanks i guess playing slow first is the best idea? if cannot grasp the feel of the rythm while playing slow its definitely not possible to get it at a faster tempo right..

 

[Softwaremaker]

Of course, this is easier to lose your time in.

To add to Composer of Requiems what said: You may want to add your time-keeping in to this song. Like most complex jazz patterns, pedal your hi-hats to the Downbeats OR Upbeats OR the 2s and 4s, etc

Besides keeping time, it does add some regularity to the song (in your head) and may help your other band members as well. Too much irregular syncopation throws everyone off, including youself

 

[Caveman]

Play the beat while counting out loud helps.

For Quarter notes you could count 1,2,3,4 ...

8th notes 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and ...

16th notes 1 e and a 2 e and a 3 e and a 4 e and a ...

 

[kazuki]

thanks guys! i am trying out the various methods mentioned here =)

when we play with clicks do we really hear to ensure every stike that is suppose to land on the main beats land with the click? or we just use the click as a speed check and go with the flow...

 

[Softwaremaker]

when we play with clicks do we really hear to ensure every stike that is suppose to land on the main beats land with the click? or we just use the click as a speed check and go with the flow...

For me, the click (whether its in your head, stomping your left foot or swaying your head) is a guide (or a timing check). It can be anywhere, not just the downbeats but it should be regular. This will be the regular chick sound that not only guides you but the rest of your band members as well.

In fact, for me, I prefer that timing check guide to be different from the backbeats or the downbeats. It adds more color to the song. For example, jazz pieces tend to use the 2 and 4 as the time check with the HH pedal foot but the same tune played with the timing clicks on every upbeat (1n, 2n, 3n, 4n) sounds really different and is the preferred mode in fast tempo jazz pieces.

 

[eyelezz]

well one way i learn is try to accent on the of beats of a 16th note the e's and a's. Play slow and get used to the sound of it. it will come to u naturally and dont tell urrself playing offbeat is hard, its just something urr mind havent registered yet. Just play slowly like how all drummers learn something new ( : cheers!

 

[USADRUMMER]

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