Hey guys,
It recently came to my attention (I’ve suspected it for a while without doing anything about it) when I decided to record a song I’ve written, that my time keeping can be absolutely dire.
I’ve been playing so long, that it’s really embarrassing to come to terms with this now… I’ve never really been one to keep time with my foot, assuming that my time keeping was naturally good (hah, i know…), and it’s pretty good as long as I don’t play anything that gets a bit more advanced in the strumming department. Playing songs that skip the beats and go for half or quarter notes can completely throw me off, and I’m having great trouble keeping my foot going on the 1 2 3 4 when my hands are strumming more exotic things.
(The song that made this abundantly clear has a funky pattern that goes for 2 bars, where I’m missing the 4th and come back in on the ‘and’ before the 5th… I’m not great at music theory so this is the best way i know how to explain it. There’s a bit more going on in it, but that’s the part that has my foot/leg spasming, not allowing me to keep the time properly)
If i tap my foot to the half notes (essentially tapping 12345678) i can keep the time, but it seems crazy and unsustainable to tap my foot that much, especially at higher tempos… Like, I’m essentially tapping a 186 beat time to keep my 93 bpm song in time…
I’ve been trying some tips from older posts, tapping along to songs every time i listen, really trying to go slow, but I’ve got adhd, am easily frustrated and my patience with myself is absolutely paper thin. I’m embarrassed that I can’t just get it.
I feel like something is missing somewhere. I’ll keep on going at it, but I recently thought of myself as an advanced level acoustic guitar player. I can play all sorts of pretty advanced stuff, I’ve performed in front of loads of people solo (feeling mortified at this right now, though I guess most people wouldn’t notice… I hope)
So, I’m here for some tips, videos that maybe helped you ‘get it’… Anything that might help me? Like I said, I can keep time perfectly well when listening to songs, singing songs, clapping or tapping to a metronome, but as soon as my right hand gets going on some off beat stuff, it gets really tricky.
I’d be grateful for some advice <3
Edit: Should add that I’ve been working with a metronome now, but am still having trouble tapping along with the metronome beat with my foot, meaning I can’t keep the time without a metronome or drum beat.
submitted by /u/Marc-Springfield
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