Having inner rhythm is crucial for playing music. Some people think you need to be born with it, but there are definitely ways to develop it.
I took a class with Victor Wooten and we did a few things to develop our sense of rhythm.
The first thing was to think of the metronome tick as being 2&4, which I had already been doing.
Then Victor told us to step it up, think of the tick as the “e” if sixteenths are broken up into (1 e + a). So the tick would be the “e” of the 2nd and 4th beats.
He also had just one tick every four measures that would be ‘1′.
And he did something with a drum machine where two measures would be played, two would be rest, and you keep playing.
Tons of stuff you can do with it, and it can really solidify your time.
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Those are some great ideas, Neal. I’ve practiced plenty with the metronome on the offbeat, but the sixteenth-note upbeat concept is very cool. Haven’t tried it yet, but I can imagine that it will prove both challenging and profitable.
What I find hard is turning the click off on the metronome and going entirely visual.
Point of interest: I’ve found myself timing the gas meter when I’m at the filling station.
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