Slightly off-beat

Technique
1

Hi there,
I just started a week ago and today I noticed that sometimes I am very slightly off-beat when I play along with Josh in the excercise. This became obvious to me in Module 3, Lesson 1 (Child in time). When I hit the dotted note, I am very often a fraction of a second behind Josh.

When I looked at the problem closely, I noticed that I often don‘t hit the note on ONE but very shortly after I counted ONE or tapped my foot, instead of hitting the note dead center. I don‘t know if that makes any sense, I hope you can understand what I try to say…

Is that a problem I need to fix asap or should I just be aware of it and just move on and try to work on it during the coming lessons?

4 Likes
2

…and the coming months and years :slight_smile:

Definitely don’t put your lessons on hold, just keep it in mind and keep working on it.

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Yes, timing is something that even professionals still do exercises for. Keep on with Josh, you’ll get better and better as the course goes on. Working with a metronome (click) is also something you should get used to. It feels weird at first, but you’ll soon get in a rhythm with it (pardon the pun). This video series has some good exercises too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZa_tdJTdik. Just start off slow with basic rhythms (1/2 or 1/4 notes) and gradually build up speed and complexity of the rhythms you play. Just do 5 minutes a day and you’ll see big improvements.

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It will come…in time….literally.

You may be starting to pluck when the note is sounding which is a tiny bit too late. In time your body and will figure out how to close that gap on its own.

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5

Thanks guys, good to know that this is not unusual. I will keep an eye on it and practice with a metronome.

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You should be aware of it and try to get better.
I think at this point in the course it’s not a good idea to get fixated on timing and doing special exercises for that. You’ll hit that point when you get to the groove workout.

That said I agree with the suggested methods to improve timing - if you add the groove workout itself to it. Just don’t get hung up on your mistakes that early in the learning curve.

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Thanks for all the helpful advice, guys and gals. I really appreciate the support. This is a great forum. :+1:

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Yeah, it’s a struggle. As @John_E pointed out, if you are listening for the note to sound, you’ll be a little late. One of the things that I’ve been working on is playing slower songs. You can get little sloppy on faster ones and be okay, but a slow song really challenges you to stay on top of the beat.
My favorite warmup is Bob Seger’s Main Street. David Hood, the bass player from the Muscle Shoals rhythm section, is so laid back he’s practically reclining. If you come in behind him, you are way late. At 70bpm it should be an easy song. It isn’t.
https://youtu.be/t_0urLcyQx4
Tab is readily available

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