Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum My timing still sucks

Aww thank you so much

I was so afraid to post that So it's great to hear good feedback and great advice

I'll keep working on it.

Thanks again =D

This might sound silly, but play "Rock Band" the video game. It is a rythym game set to music. Doesn't really matter which instrument you play the concept is the same: hit the button, key or pad at the exact moment the colored circled hits the beat line. Once you advance to expert level you are playing in perfect time with the song. My kids had a horrible time keeping a beat, but this game made it fun.

Also wanted to add that I do some weird math on some pieces. For example I see a bunch of sixteenth notes in 4/4 time and instead of doing 1-e-&-a, I essentially divide the notes into parts - when I look at 16th notes I don't see a 16th or a part of the 1-e-&-a pattern, I see half of an 8th, and an 8th is half of a quarter, etc. Once I establish the beat of a quarter note, the rest is simply division. So with the pieces of 16th, I might change mentally the time signature so that the 8ths get the beat and could 1-&-2-& for the 16th and lenthen the 1/4s to halfs, etc. Easier to count 1-2- instead of 1-e-&-a, etc. Hope I made sense.

This is the exact same thing I'm trying to actively figure out how to do. Because it would stream line the process intensely. As for rockband :P I played guitar hero :P I actually was astoundingly good at that game :P but I find it was two different worlds lol once I got away from the video game console and onto a real instrument =)

I don't get it?

:P

Timing is my nemesis. Going to try with the metrononome later.

My teacher suggested blowing gently through your mouth in rhythm, or discreetly sniffing! Trouble is when I do these things, my blowing/sniffing/foot-tapping speeds up (unnoticed by me!) alongside my fingers, which are not playing the correct rhythm, so back to square one! Metronomes are good for the very first stage of learning a piece, but you need to also internalize the rhythm and 'live it' in your head without the metronome.

I don't have time to read this whole thread, so someone might have already suggested this, but try listening while you drum or tap out the rhythms youre trying to play and then immediately imitate them on the piano on one key only, then play the passage in your music with the same rhythm. You can also listen to a cd sample first. One that is included with a book with the notation is best. Here's a good one:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Rhythm-Bible-Book-CD/dp/0739026771/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_2

The link is to The Rhythm Bible by Dan Fox

I heartily second this recommendation. I've checked out most of the alternatives from the library, and this one is by far my favorite rhythm practice book. The rhythms in each section progress in difficulty, and the chapters progress logically toward improving one's ability to syncopate. Plus the rhythmic snippets make musical sense, which seems not to be the case in many rhythm practice books.

One major thing is that you don't have to finish one chapter before trying the next. Individual chapters get pretty hard, but the beginning of the next chapter will be easier, so it's ok to move on when you feel overwhelmed.

As an aid to hand independence, tap a steady rhythm with one hand while reading the book rhythms with the other (the book is all single rhythmic lines, not two-handed rhythms).

sounds like something a youtube pianist I like made a video about. When the beat gets subdivided more than once or so I start to lose track of it too
[video:youtube]5y3e4HUnXmI[/video]

A helpful tip for me was to tap my left foot with the beat while playing and the physical metronome of your body helps to keep more secure track of rhythm

I've always had a problem with speeding up as I play.

What has absolutely not worked has been playing with the metronome. I essentially play with a metronome whenever I play with my trio. I practice with the metronome often (with beats on 2 and 4 or only one four). Take away a time keeper and I speed up.

What has also not helped: Feeling the beat in my entire body or tapping my foot emphatically.

What has helped to some extent: consciously trying to slow down, and breathing.

If I can remember to think about it, it's not too bad.

The other thing I'm trying, at the direction of my teacher, is to subdivide the beat in my head.

So far, this is working magically well. I haven't figured out why this is helping, but it is. For example, instead of thinking 1,2,3,4 I'm dividing each beat into triplet, and actually saying ba-be-da for each beat.

To quantify this: I often test myself by listening to the metronome, and then shutting it off, recording myself, and trying to stay at that exact tempo. I then play it back, and use a metronome with tap mode to keep track of my tempo.

I usually start to speed up after about 8 beats. If I work very hard, I can keep from speeding up too much.

But, if I concentrate on the ba-be-da triplet rhythm, I can do a better job of maintaining tempo for a long time. Perhaps it's as simple as this: it's easier to hear the accuracy when thinking of (for example) 300 units per minute than 100.

A link:

http://www.studybass.com/lessons/rhythm/subdividing-the-beat/