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Posted by: jer Mar 9 2009, 07:42 PM

For a while now I have been seeing the word "counting" around here. And using the metronome for it. And how it will equate to lead guitar supremacy.

I've also seen more than one of us not fully buy in to why that is true. At times anyway.

I just read this in Outlaw's thread. Monte wrote it.

I think this is something that needs to be fully understood. I think that some of the benefits of metronome use have been implied and not fully explained. (or I didnt see the full explanation anyway)

"Why do I need to count?" has been said a few times.

What does this mean? Counting.....

Dan and I had a long talk where my point was "just knowing how to count in between the beats wont make me play any faster"





The metronome is a 2 part thing.

Part 1. - improve speed & consistency. The whole process of playing along with a "dead on balls accurate" click is beneficial to speed. And timing. Cant play a lick at 90bpm? Slow it down to 50 and get it down. Then 55, then 60, then 65, then 70 etc..... I think we can all follow how this will get us to our speed goals. Without a measuring device you have to barometers. Success and failure. You cant measure progress that way. THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH COUNTING.

Part 2. - Counting. This is all the stuff about subdividing the beats. You cant play anything but quarter notes on the beat if you dont count. You may not do it conciously but you ARE counting when you play 16th notes. (4 in between the beats) And you ARE counting when you play triplets. (3 in between the beats) Practicing playing 1,2,3,4,5,6,8 beats inbetween each of those clicks is what is meant by the whole counting thing. Understanding the different note values and how they sound will allow you to write your own leads that sound rhythmically interesting. Instead of the quarter note hell that I am stuck in. Yeah, I can play leads. I figure out the key and play 1 note per beat from the appropriate scale. I've been doing that for years. Can you say BORING? Sure every once in a while I'll try and speed it up. But I bet if I could listen to any example of having done that its just 16th notes instead....

Developing a sense of timing and understanding the different uses of these various note values is what will give you GEARS to play in. Right now I'm a golf cart. I have 2 gears. Forward and backwards.

Becoming fluent in whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, 8th notes, 16th notes, triplets, 16th note triplets, quintuplets, = 8 GEARS!

Imagine how much more interesting my playing will be.

Posted by: lcsdds Mar 9 2009, 09:06 PM

Couldn't have said it any better Jer. Thanks. Even if you don't want to shred you still gotta learn to use the Kaz-box. Learn to count and your rhythm playing and your lead lines will be SOOOO MUCH COOLER.!!! If you do want to shred you ain't gonna unless you make the Kaz-box your best friend. Don't take my word for it take Kris's. I talked to Emir the other day on Skype and he told me he went through about a 3 or 4 year period where he practiced intensely with the Kaz-box.

This is the song that made me sit down and learn how to use the Kaz-box. When I say "Rhytmic coolness" this is what I mean!! It is played in 16th notes and but you can hear that it is totally syncopated. Try to sit down and play this riff with just you and the Kaz-box. Not easy. When I learned this I had no freakin idea what a 16th note was or any note value for that matter. But I dug in and learned although it was not easy and it was frustrating. It was a lot easier to just "noodle" than to sit and try and feel the beat.

Thanks for the post Jer!! I think we all agree that none of us wants to be stuck in "quarter note hell".....the place reserved for those guitarists who refuse to pay homage to the mighty Kaz-box!!

Posted by: jer Mar 9 2009, 09:13 PM

Lots of foot tapping going on there by Eddie.

I wonder if thats helping him count?

Posted by: lcsdds Mar 9 2009, 09:18 PM

I've tried the foot tapping thing......Drummers blow my mind!!! SERIOUSLY!!

Posted by: jer Mar 9 2009, 09:27 PM

I'll usually bob my head rather than tap my foot.

Cant use a kaz box with headphones since the drummer is never that good.....

Posted by: jer Mar 23 2009, 02:14 AM

The above was grabbed from Outlaw's thread. It relates to the metronome though so I put it here. Rather than go off topic there.

Dan said something to the effect ( in the video ) that counting and metronome use is more important when writing songs than when playing covers. I'm not quoting him here. Check the video for the exact wording. Anyway....

Dan, can you elaborate on that? I don't follow you here. I would think that using a metronome and working out where the notes fall in relation to the beat would be useful in any piece of music where there is a bit of speed that goes past what you can inherently "feel". Regardless of who wrote it. Me, Kiss, Twisted Sister, Dream Theater, Lordi, etc....

What did you mean here?

Posted by: lcsdds Mar 23 2009, 04:57 AM

I think he was saying that the reason a lot of people don't learn to count is because they jam along with CD's. Like you jamming with your favorite Priest tune. You don't necessarily need to learn to use the metronome because you just use the CD to know how to phrase stuff....by feel. If you are writing your own stuff it really helps to know the different note values and how they relate to the beat. The metronome is definitely handy for learning any fast passage or any passage you are having problems with rhythmically. I think most people don't though. They just listen to the CD and play along. Nothing wrong with that...just depends on what you want to do. If you don't know what quarter note triplets are and how to phrase them with relationship to the beat then why would you write a tune with them in it? Maybe you would.....but if you were aware of their existence then you might be more likely to use them than if you didn't even know what they are. Kind of like you said with regards to modes. You could just use the chords that are found in D Lydian but if you know which chords are the most important to get the Lydian sound then you would be more likely to write a tune that Sounds lydian and not Ionian.

Posted by: opeth.db Mar 23 2009, 12:51 PM

Right.

Posted by: jer Mar 23 2009, 01:08 PM

Got it.

Great explanation. Thanks!