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Ever since I began playing guitar I have had a “default” rhythm that if I get lazy while playing a song I fall right back into. I mean if the tune is 3/4 time or 4/4 or any other beat and if I’m not playing with someone else who is keeping the correct time I tend to adapt the song to my “DNA” rhythm pattern .
As I have often said I play with a BC thumb pick and use it to pick base and mid notes and to use for an up stroke. I finger pick treble notes with bare fingers and use the tops of my fingernails for down stroke when strumming.
Some times I fall into sort of a modified “Frailling” routine. perhaps because the first instrument I tried was a Gibson 5 string long neck banjo………I Know, I know . Gave it up a year after I first tried it.
Anyone else have “built in ” rhythm ??…… And don’t mention ‘Practicing with a metronome “. That ship sailed a long time ago.
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Almost everything comes back to 4 in one way or another.
I try to break it up by doing shuffle rhythms and such that make my thumb doing more work bc it makes the music more interesting by adding the offbeats. I got the idea from watching Bernard Purdue play drums, specifically his “Purdue Shuffle,” which has something on every beat but isn’t at all busy.
Counting “1 and a 2 and a 3 and a 4….” etc gives you time to think about where you’re placing the notes.
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I’m trying harder to use a metronome app to keep a steadier pace, but I’m also trying to use an drum app to try playing with different drum patterns and rhythms – I’ve become very aware of how badly I can get into a boring and generic kinda rhythm when trying to play reggae or some blues. But I also have found that the insistent regularity of a drum loop can rip the soul out of a great song –
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I have a KORG in-ear metronome , took a little getting used to but saves the spouse
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I think keeping an even rhythm is important – as in, if you start in 4/4, don’t switch unintentionally to ¾ – but tempo can, and possibly should, change during a song, at least with singers. If there’s a sad ending, or maybe an uplifting ending, then tempo can help reflect that. Its the main reason I hate playing with a drum machine – they can feel relentless. But then again, a drummer who’s had a little too much to drink can be a problem ( of course, the guitar player has probably had a little too much as well, so blame can be an awkward ) 😉
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Groove is important.
Playing in time allows you to set up a groove and then play WITH the time.
There are a lot of excellent records pre-1982 or 83 (before click tracks became important to easy overdubbing) that push time around a bit. Anything by the group Chicago with Danny Seraphine on drums will have an excellent groove, but not an excellent grasp of time. (Danny tried but could not get himself to play to click track and was asked to leave the group.)In my experience, setting up and maintaining a groove allows the audience into the song more easily. If you’re speeding up and slowing down too much, they’ll lose the beat and you’ll lose them. (Been there, done that, still working on NOT doing it!)
Daniel
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I have tried and tried to record with Dee…but I just can’t be involved if a “Click Track ” has to be used , and now days it always is . The link here is a recording we did some years ago and I’m playing my old Martin HD-28 . They were able to remove the click track from my head phones when we recorded . Dee and I have done this song so many times that I was on auto pilot as to the timing….but that is a rare thing .
07 Wurlitzer Prize (Featuring Dianna
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