keeping tempo

[killabunny]

ok so i've been playing for 4 years, and i can play lots of stuff by now, but i still have a little trouble keeping tempo. it's not terribly obvious, but it does get a little irritating. i can play along to a metronome or drum beat just about fine, but when the metronome or drum beat suddenly cuts out i tend to speed up. like it happens when i'm jamming with people sometimes, when in a part of the song the drums are supposed to cut out while the guitar keeps playing, i tend to speed up. i'm not sure if it's naturally bad rhythm or anxiety or what. also, when a drummer clicks off a soft acoustic song with no drums (think cheesy ballads e.g. Here Without You by 3 Doors Down), i end up having sped up a minute into the song.

so do you guys have any tempo keeping exercises to recommend? i tried the method of playing a drum beat and selectively muting the volume, counting the beats in silence and then unmuting when i think the first beat is going to fall again. but i'm always looking for more methods.

cheers

 

[carboxymoron]

The trick that works for me is to sing the words (silently). If I just count 4 beats I tend to speed up because there's so much space in between the beats to lose track of But if I have to think of pronouncing the words fully then it's easier to maintain the tempo. Or at least I will imagine more complicated fills / drumbeats. Don't know how everyone else does it.

 

[wck]

If you have a metronome you can try this. Lets say you're playing a song/riff/progression at 120bpm start by playing to a metronome counting 16th notes then slowly reduce the number of counts to 8 and then quarter notes etc while still playing in the same tempo.

It'll help to steady your rhythm. I saw this on a youtube video some time back.

 

[killabunny]

okay cool thanks guys.

@carboxymoron actually, i've been tapping my feet for a long time haha, i'm more concerned about my 'natural' sense of timing. someone told me you either got it or you don't, but i'm not buying that haha

 

[bf0502tr]

okay cool thanks guys.

@carboxymoron actually, i've been tapping my feet for a long time haha, i'm more concerned about my 'natural' sense of timing. someone told me you either got it or you don't, but i'm not buying that haha

i dun buy that either. i trained out my timing. still not perfect but its alot better now than when i just started.

 

[killabunny]

yea i was jialat to the max when i first started, at least i can perform live now. but it's not fun to have to do multiple takes when recording... that's why i need to train my 'internal clock'

 

[AzNjT]

maybe it isn't your fault when you're jamming because of the other band mates might lose the timing.
do you find yourself tensing up when you perform or play? that could be the reason why the tempo is off?

 

[killabunny]

yea i have a lot of shoulder tension, i usually try to relax, but when i don't pay attention for too long i find my shoulders tense again. sometimes i think it's anxiety lah, it's actually worse when i'm trying to record guitar parts

 

[AzNjT]

hahaha true, when you know it's "on", everything feels tensed. just gotta get used to it huh :]]