General Music Chat

I would not dare to contradict anything you said here jsantos.

BUT !

Place a metronome on any live act.

You will find most good music does not flow tick tick tick.

Timing is important as is precise technical / mechanical skills.

IMO tick tick tick is good for developing timing.

But consistent flow is much more important.

Take a metronome into the quiet wood with you.

As the sun rises and the day animals begin to move about, the breeze shifts, and the echo of a babbling brook seems to be enhanced.

You soon throw out that damned tick tick tick.
And enjoy how sound is supposed to be perceived.

I

Place a metronome on any live act.

haha I would probably be asked to leave if I brought a metronome to a show.

Practice for us is learning new material. Rehearsal is for preparing for a job.


Moe Howard rules.

We more or less make the same distinction.

Practice is getting better with our tunes, may make changes ETC.
May play the same song 5-10 times
Rehearsal is in preparation for a gig. Follow the program.
Rarely repeat a song, and never restart no matter how bad the train wrecks, have to recover. It's a must.

Someone on a TV program the other day ( as I passed through the living room ) said she practices by herself and rehearses with others.

Never really looked at the actual definitions.

Kind of irrelevant at any rate.

That is it exactly George, practice is what you do in preparation to rehearse with the band. A PRO does this. He or she shows up with their parts nailed! It is hard enough to get everyone together to rehearse so they should be prepared to make the most of rehearsal!
That is the main reason I just left a VERY successful band. Some of the newer members didn't understand that and I have ZERO tolerence for it! The way I see it is I have about 10 good years left to play at the level I want to play! My Best Days are ahead of me and I just don't have time for folks to lollygag around if they don't want to be a PRO!

I would not dare to contradict anything you said here jsantos.

BUT !

Place a metronome on any live act.

You will find most good music does not flow tick tick tick.

Timing is important as is precise technical / mechanical skills.

IMO tick tick tick is good for developing timing.

But consistent flow is much more important.

Take a metronome into the quiet wood with you.

As the sun rises and the day animals begin to move about, the breeze shifts, and the echo of a babbling brook seems to be enhanced.

You soon throw out that damned tick tick tick.
And enjoy how sound is supposed to be perceived.

Well, when you practice an upper block you actually end up with your arm/hand higher than it needs to be... but you exaggerate it like that so that when the adrenalene kicks in, you still have enough coverage for it to work.
Tell me if I'm wrong or not George. I don't have a lot of experience with martial arts.

Metronome is practice for the fight.

Well zip.
I kind of understand what your getting at.
But it's only true at a very basic level.
Past that you must be precise.
Because, when the sh*t hits the fan you will perform the way you train.
( same for music IMO )
That's why I always stressed the difference between sport and combat to my Kung Fu brothers and sisters.
( also why I go on stage with a kill or be killed mentality )

In sport your looking for a point or a knock out.
In combat you want to remove the left eye from the socket with your finger. (much more energy efficient ) Or perhaps crush the larynx, dislocate the ankle. ( you get the point )

Observe what happens to the super trained athletes of UFC if they get kicked in the nads or a thumb in the eye.
Fights over.
VS being punched repeatedly with little effect.

Perfect practice makes perfect.

P.S. Kung Fu generally prefers to "parry" (deflect, redirect, & trap) vs block.

I

Place a metronome on any live act.

haha I would probably be asked to leave if I brought a metronome to a show.

Years ago we had a trumpet player who graduated from UMKC conservatory school of music. He swore up and down that our tempo kept changing within some of the songs we were doing. One practice our drummer brought a metronome and set it off at the beginning of the song. To his big surprise we had PERFECT timing throughout the song. I have NEVER practiced with a metronome. I'm not saying my timing is perfect but it's probably pretty close. As far as practicing I hardly practice at all unless I'm really motivated. When I really want to learn new songs I'l practice until I get blisters on my hands. Years ago within a few weeks I learned about 40 of Jerry Dowell's songs. That's what motivates me, original material that KICKS ASS. If something's worth getting into I'll practice until I literally can't pluck a string...otherwise I spend all my free time fishing...

I have NEVER practiced with a metronome. I'm not saying my timing is perfect but it's probably pretty close. As far as practicing I hardly practice at all unless I'm really motivated.

That is awesome Bob! You are probably one of those people who are naturally gifted with music, aural skills and timing. I have a friend like you who can learn any instrument in a very short amount of time. I am the complete opposite because I have to work very hard at being proficient on my chosen instrument. 3 hours of practice a day with a metronome is what I need to maintain the skills I have. If I miss a week of practice, it shows. Maybe one of these days I can get to your level and I will not need to practice anymore.

About 5-6 hours a day... 2 hours on the acoustic doing all technique exercises and the rest on the electric implementing those exercises into my leads and also going over band tunes and learning at least one new tune a week... You can say I got a lot of time on my hands as I get home at 11:30AM ... everybody else is working or at school so I actually watch tv when practicing al my exercises on the acoustic cause it gets super boring but pays off when it comes to wailing the crap outta my axe live onstage!

What's worked for me in a band situation has always been to rehearse the songs with the group until you're just sick of playing them. Once you can get through your sets without screwing up then you're good to go....usually. Knowing that you have everything down certainly builds confidence and helps you get out of sketchy situations live.

Sans, that an awesome mixer. I'm going to be borrowing someones mixer after I get a good interface/soundcard and run it that way.

Santos, some really good advice there. I may use some of it to better my lead playing. Right now I'm wrestling with sweep picking scales.

Santos, some really good advice there. I may use some of it to better my lead playing. Right now I'm wrestling with sweep picking scales.

Cool Man! They are really fun to play.... took me a while to learn how to do them but its a good trick to learn.

With every practice session, I ALWAYS learn something new.
Always.
I try stuff which I've never done before, or stuff I've never successfully done before.
Once I master it, I try something harder.
I keep setting the goal post higher and higher.
I try stuff I think is near impossible. Super fast changes that are far apart on the neck, or 4 and 5 fret chords - new combinations of chords which hurt to switch fast . . .
About 1/8 of the new songs I write - will leave me in the dust.
I know how they go , but I can not - can not - perorm them the way I hear them in my head.
- without practice.
Some of my own songs take me up to a year of practice to attain the ability to play them, and I've got over 80 completed songs . . .
.
Only stop practicing if you think you already know it all . . .
. . . .or if you want to rest on your laurels . . .
.
But - those who stopped practicing have stopped learning.

Practice: 10 -15 hours a week.
.
Composing new songs - 1-3 hours a week.
.
Recording: 1 - 5 hours/week.
.
Recording other people onto my songs: Avg, about 2 hours/week.

Mixing those recordings: 4 - 15 hours a week.
.
Rehearsal - 3 hours a week.
.
One-on-one practice; 0 to 5 hours/ week.
.
I don't know what that totals to . . .

Sounds to me like that totals to a professional musician...

"Practice everything to a metronome"

As a drummer I used to get shaking of heads from band mates as one would say,"you're too slow!"...and another would say,"your beat is too fast!" ...that really bothered me which one to follow.

...then, I brought in the METRONOME! ..that settled the beat and quiet them.