getting tight on slow songs

veecharlie

Senior Member
Hello fellow drummers,

I know I am bad at songs slower than adagio and I would like to make that up.
I believe that being able to play slower is a skill that forms part of being a great drummer, and after filming myself unfortunately this is really true. I want to change that, I believe I can be good at it.


So, my first question: I want to buy a good metronome app, I want to buy Tempo (which has a bunch of features for only 4 euro) and practice "measure on and measure off metronome", and variation of speed measures, etc. (I have free apps but they don't have, at least I don't know, that's possible to do without me having to stop playing and change it, in other words, automatic)
Any better iOS app, Android or PC app? (I have all 3 lol)

My second question is, further than those exercises... what really effective exercises do you recommend me?

I try to play both with and without the metronome, I believe building internal clock is essential as a musician (I made a vlog about this explaining why I think like that, don't want to hear anything about it in this thread as it's not the topic I'm asking help with), so I don't want to hear "play with a click" or "play without a click" here please, as that's not the reason of this post and I obviously do both since years. I'm looking for a step closer to professionalism.
 
In your head, count. But don't just count "1... 2... 3... 4..." Add the in-between counts (subdivide.) It's much easier to keep time when you have more to work with. And it's not really necessary to count "1 e & ah...", you can just think "UH uh uh uh", as long as you have more of a pulse that you can follow that makes it easier to land on the 1, 2, 3 and 4.

When practicing with a tempo app, do the same. Set the 'clicks' for 8th or 16th notes to make it easier to follow.

Bermuda
 
In your head, count. But don't just count "1... 2... 3... 4..." Add the in-between counts (subdivide.) It's much easier to keep time when you have more to work with. And it's not really necessary to count "1 e & ah...", you can just think "UH uh uh uh", as long as you have more of a pulse that you can follow that makes it easier to land on the 1, 2, 3 and 4.

When practicing with a tempo app, do the same. Set the 'clicks' for 8th or 16th notes to make it easier to follow.

Bermuda

This is very useful, and I think while I play I do it too few... I'll keep it in mind more often, however, subdivide the metronome it still doesn't help me as good...
 
I want to buy a good metronome app, I want to buy Tempo (which has a bunch of features for only 4 euro) and practice "measure on and measure off metronome", and variation of speed measures, etc. (I have free apps but they don't have, at least I don't know, that's possible to do without me having to stop playing and change it, in other words, automatic)
Any better iOS app, Android or PC app? (I have all 3 lol)
.

Hi veecharlie. I have an Android phone and use the free version of 'Metronome Beats' and find it very good. I can silence/mute any beats in each measure. I can also select for the tempo to gradually increase or decrease every measure or 2 measures or however many I want, and I can select how many bpm to increase or decrease each time. You can also enable it to keep running the metronome even when you're looking at a Web page or youtube.

The paid version allows you to select measures on and measures off. So for example, 3 measures on and 1 measure off.

This is the link to the free version which you should try to see if you like it, and below that is the link for the paid version.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.andymstone.metronome

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.andymstone.metronomepro
 
...however, subdivide the metronome it still doesn't help me as good...

That could simply be not hearing the metronome as loud as you need to. The most important part of using a click, is being able to hear it. :)

Bermuda
 
Hello fellow drummers,

So, my first question: I want to buy a good metronome app, I want to buy Tempo (which has a bunch of features for only 4 euro) and practice "measure on and measure off metronome", and variation of speed measures, etc. (I have free apps but they don't have, at least I don't know, that's possible to do without me having to stop playing and change it, in other words, automatic)
Any better iOS app, Android or PC app? (I have all 3 lol)

My second question is, further than those exercises... what really effective exercises do you recommend me?

I use the Metronomics app for Android, and I think it's great. It cost about $10, though. I'm not familiar with how its features compare to other apps.

As for exercises, I think these ideas from Dave Dicenso are great, and I've been using them lately in my practice (in conjunction with his great book, Rhythm and Drumming Demystified; but you can apply them to any type of drumming exercise): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRl5Vw2AaHQ&t=13s
 
I remember a story about Todd Rundgren where he had a slow song, I seem to remember it was The Last Ride from the Todd album, but I could be wrong, and he went through 10 or more of the top session players of the time before he could find one who could play it slow enough.
 
I don't think you need any special app other than a metronome that goes slower than 40 bpm. Set it at whatever fraction (1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16) of the tempo you're practicing that lies between ~15-40 bpm, and subdivide-- in your head, not in a hand or body motion. Do that with everything you practice, not just slow tempos.
 
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