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So, lets talk about guitar.


Wilbur

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6 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

Watching SS's video, I started thinking back to those days and remembering chord shapes and fingering was secondary to my teacher and tempo was everything.  I have always strived for tempo once the chords are known.  

How about you?

playing solo, tempo is way down the list.  It's an expression of your interpretation of what you're playing.  Get the rest right, the tempo will be what it needs to be.  But then again, I do have an unconventional style.

When I'm playing at church, tempo becomes far more important, because I have a lot of people trying to sing along.  With the band, the drummer is gonna play way too fast anyway, so not my call.

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1 hour ago, 12string said:

playing solo, tempo is way down the list.  It's an expression of your interpretation of what you're playing.  Get the rest right, the tempo will be what it needs to be.  But then again, I do have an unconventional style.

When I'm playing at church, tempo becomes far more important, because I have a lot of people trying to sing along.  With the band, the drummer is gonna play way too fast anyway, so not my call.

I have always played in bands so adherence to timing was king. 

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3 hours ago, Wilbur said:

remembering chord shapes

My senior year college roommate played guitar.  He taught me some chords.   I decided it was better for him to play, and I'd have a beer.

At his wedding... they had a band.  The band took a break.  My roommate, and his band buddies got up and played for a while.  They were better than than the band they  had for the wedding.

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I can mechanically play chords but I have sucky timing. If someone else would sing for me   it would be much easier to pick up on the timing. 

But hey, I have fun trying.  My goal in life was to be able to make a sound someone could recognize,  so I'm winning. 😄

 

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3 minutes ago, Zealot said:

That’s what every melody player who can’t keep a steady rhythm says... 😉 

My daughter and SIL are coming in tonight. As I’ve mentioned, they’re both accomplished musicians. They’re bringing their instruments and we’ll have a jam session at some point. Nice thing about Bodhran playing is that traditionally the Bodhran follows the melody; it doesn’t set the tempo. I am pretty good at that. My SIL put me to the test last time; switching time signatures without warning. It was fun, like playing Simon Says. 

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yes, I've always strived for tempo, even when I couldn't really manage it.  My chord changes can keep up; if it's going to go bad it's probably going to be on a solo run.  When I practice I almost always play with a backing track, which I think has helped me a lot.

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16 hours ago, Wilbur said:

Watching SS's video, I started thinking back to those days and remembering chord shapes and fingering was secondary to my teacher and tempo was everything.  I have always strived for tempo once the chords are known.  

How about you?

Without good tempo, the music kind of wanders and the key points, defined by highest notes, loudest notes, and longest notes, become less pronounced.  Additionally, if you're playing with other musicians, it's hard to stay together with the music if the instruments defining the tempo aren't steady.

Here are a few examples of tempo being a major consideration:

When I was a high school science teacher, one of our substitute teachers taught, from her house, violin and cello to kids.  Every so often, they'd perform for nursing homes, senior centers, etc. and she, our sub, would ask me to come and play background chords on a piano or keyboard to keep the kids on tempo.  I would then be asked to play one pop and one classical piece at the end.

My brother Tim, when I was 20 and he was 5, used to hang around my band's practice a lot, learned to play guitar from me and bass from Lenny, our bass player, and today is a well known and respected bass player in our area and has always been in one band or another since he was a teenager: Tim now 56 and when around age 20:

1851720839_Timnowandthen..thumb.jpg.caea8867f80164f15e90ebc72fca3e52.jpg

Once, when I asked Tim why his band replaced their drummer, he said the most important people in the band are the drummer and bass player in order to keep tempo, and the drummer could play well, but couldn't keep a steady tempo.

When I study classical piano in the adult program of the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins U, I have to use a metronome when I'm practicing at home so I won't get carried away by short-note or loud sequences and play them too fast: I know I'll catch hell from my teacher or the panel of teachers at master classes or recital auditions.

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