From one of the better YouTube channels, for bassists, here’s a video on the subject of time, in which the guy works through practicing with a slow click— which I highly recommend, practicing with the […]
Category: time
Know your tempos: Workin’ / Steamin’ / Cookin’ / Relaxin’
You can buy them all in one collection now. Hey, we haven’t done one of these in a while. All the tempos from four very famous Miles Davis records, with his very famous quintet from the […]
Time is money
Another funny item I dug out of my archives. I believe it’s from the jazz festival at UC Berkeley in 1989— I was there playing with USC’s guitar ensemble. A bassist and drummer gave a […]
Latest views and practices on time
Rounding up my current views and practices on the subject rhythm and time, in teaching and practicing: knowing rhythm, holding a tempo in playing. This is mostly about beginner to intermediate level students. A lot […]
Very occasional quote of the day: practicing in time
“Through the years I had always practiced from slow to fast, but then I found out that that’s the worst possible thing any drummer can do for his time. If you practice like that, you […]
Tempo and practicing
Yes, it is. This always hung me up— the seemingly infinite tempo possibilities for any one thing you practice. It was a constantly lurking thing that I’m not doing this fast enough, and you would […]
Very occasional quote of the day: ectopic pulse
Film editor Walter Murch talks about Richard Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries, conducted by George Solti, used in the famous “Charlie’s Point” scene in Apocalypse Now. Late in post-production Decca denied the filmmakers the right […]
Very occasional quote(s) of the day: consecrated and desynchronized
A couple of quotes from the pianist Ethan Iverson. From blog post Rhythmic Folklore: “Consecrated jazz drummers have less accurate time than rock and fusion drummers for a reason. The beat is connected to the […]
Very occasional quote of the day: Roy on time
“Mingus use to say the damndest thing about me years ago. He’d say, ‘Well, Roy Haynes. You don’t always play the beat, you suggest the beat!’ I didn’t know what the heck I was doing. […]
Counting the grid
It’s a *mechanical* tool, from way back. I had a conversation with a student about counting subdivisions when you practice— “the grid.” It’s a common thing to do, that I don’t recommend— not all the […]
Dealing with it: bad time
We’ll see if this becomes a regular feature: dealing with it. If anyone has thoughts, ideas, frustrations in real life playing situations, mention them in the comments, and maybe I can write something about it. […]
Time and whatnot
Object To Be Destroyed by Man Ray It is often said that in a musical ensemble, keeping time is everyone’s responsibility. And in some hypothetical quantum universe or other fantastical musical fairyland, people may actually […]