Duck Tape
Platinum Member
The other night I watched that classic Chris Coleman clinic
(this one
)
And today I've sat down to practice not knowing what I was going to do, and I remembered what he said to one of the audience members about counting for an entire practice session. I've attempted this before but apparently it didn't stick, so maybe this is a journal or a way to hold myself accountable while seeking advice.
I don't really know where to start, so I suppose I'll start by playing things that I am able to count along with and then working from there. Chris talks about playing out of New Breed but I'm not in the mood for that.
I started with a 100bpm playlist of songs, counting quarters 8ths and 16ths, if I play a triplet fill I'll count triplets or just quarters. If I'm counting 8ths but there's a ghost note on the snare or an extra kick on the e or a I will count that too.
After each song I put the metronome on at the same tempo as the song and played through it, trying to count through the difficult fills. It was enlightening counting some fils and realising they could be counted simple.
I also tried no metronome or music and just my voice. Then I opened up Tommy Igoe's groove essentials and realised that counting 6/8 was awkward because the backbeat is on the + of the 2. And counting 12/8 I was counting 1&a2&a3&a4&a but I'm not sure if that's the right way to go about it.
Some things I'm curious about... is it worth the effort?
If you start counting can you ever stop yourself or will it be like you're a crazy person that hears voices the entire time you play?
Could it possibly make you play worse?
Has anyone been down this road?
(this one
And today I've sat down to practice not knowing what I was going to do, and I remembered what he said to one of the audience members about counting for an entire practice session. I've attempted this before but apparently it didn't stick, so maybe this is a journal or a way to hold myself accountable while seeking advice.
I don't really know where to start, so I suppose I'll start by playing things that I am able to count along with and then working from there. Chris talks about playing out of New Breed but I'm not in the mood for that.
I started with a 100bpm playlist of songs, counting quarters 8ths and 16ths, if I play a triplet fill I'll count triplets or just quarters. If I'm counting 8ths but there's a ghost note on the snare or an extra kick on the e or a I will count that too.
After each song I put the metronome on at the same tempo as the song and played through it, trying to count through the difficult fills. It was enlightening counting some fils and realising they could be counted simple.
I also tried no metronome or music and just my voice. Then I opened up Tommy Igoe's groove essentials and realised that counting 6/8 was awkward because the backbeat is on the + of the 2. And counting 12/8 I was counting 1&a2&a3&a4&a but I'm not sure if that's the right way to go about it.
Some things I'm curious about... is it worth the effort?
If you start counting can you ever stop yourself or will it be like you're a crazy person that hears voices the entire time you play?
Could it possibly make you play worse?
Has anyone been down this road?