Volentry
Senior Member
Long post incoming!
Today, my band had a really bad jamming session. We have an acoustic set on tues, and this is our only practice for it. I realised in previous jamming sessions and gigs we seem to have tempo fluctuations during transitions. I practiced to a metronome and found out yes, in songs that have tempos of 140 or above, I tend to have a habit of slowing down during the verses which only has the snare on 2 and 4 and nothing else (no bass drum, no right hand riding on anything).
So I brought a metronome with me today for jamming. There was a song which was on 140bpm, and I would plug it into my earphones and play to it. Our rhythm guitarist was the problem, he could go off just at the first bar. After he managed to get that down, he had a habit of going off time for the verse, which eventually was conquered after some time. And then after a few more tries, we got the whole song down.
After that he said, practicing to that metronome was a waste of time because we had a gig on tues, and minimal problems like this wouldn't be picked up by the audience. He said that when he and the singer practiced, they played fine, and "covered each other's mistakes". I disagreed with his thinking... because I knew his meter isn't that good (the rest of the band never practices to a metronome, I do all the time at home), and well... because I'm the drummer and my responsibility is to keep steady time!
Regarding my own drumming, I feel I have enough chops and technical facility for the amount of time I have been playing and my age. Now I want to focus on getting my meter PERFECT and my fills and all to be tight. But this problem comes up.
So I want to ask the much more experienced guys out there... even the professionals, what do you think I should do? I hear this advice all the time, to listen to the 'big picture' and not hear your own drumming. I play to a metronome at home just fine. However, I think I might be speeding up/slowing down because I'm following the guitarist. Isn't it supposed to be the other way round?
Today, my band had a really bad jamming session. We have an acoustic set on tues, and this is our only practice for it. I realised in previous jamming sessions and gigs we seem to have tempo fluctuations during transitions. I practiced to a metronome and found out yes, in songs that have tempos of 140 or above, I tend to have a habit of slowing down during the verses which only has the snare on 2 and 4 and nothing else (no bass drum, no right hand riding on anything).
So I brought a metronome with me today for jamming. There was a song which was on 140bpm, and I would plug it into my earphones and play to it. Our rhythm guitarist was the problem, he could go off just at the first bar. After he managed to get that down, he had a habit of going off time for the verse, which eventually was conquered after some time. And then after a few more tries, we got the whole song down.
After that he said, practicing to that metronome was a waste of time because we had a gig on tues, and minimal problems like this wouldn't be picked up by the audience. He said that when he and the singer practiced, they played fine, and "covered each other's mistakes". I disagreed with his thinking... because I knew his meter isn't that good (the rest of the band never practices to a metronome, I do all the time at home), and well... because I'm the drummer and my responsibility is to keep steady time!
Regarding my own drumming, I feel I have enough chops and technical facility for the amount of time I have been playing and my age. Now I want to focus on getting my meter PERFECT and my fills and all to be tight. But this problem comes up.
So I want to ask the much more experienced guys out there... even the professionals, what do you think I should do? I hear this advice all the time, to listen to the 'big picture' and not hear your own drumming. I play to a metronome at home just fine. However, I think I might be speeding up/slowing down because I'm following the guitarist. Isn't it supposed to be the other way round?