Tick! Tock! Is That The Ticking Of A Clock?

No! It's the sound of a metronome or click.

The very name metronome or click strikes fear into the heart of many musicians. Their reasons are many ...

"It steals my creativity"

"I can't get into the groove"

"It's too rigid"

"It takes all the feel out of a song"

"It makes us sound like robots playing along to a computer"

Most of these comments come from having heard bad reports from other musicians, from a position of ignorance or day I say it, in some cases from a position of arrogance ("I don't need a click track").

I'm not going to talk about the finer details of playing with a click as that's covered on the main website, drummers see here and percussionists see here, but I would like to share a couple of things that have really helped me.

1. Playing against a click track takes familiarity and experience i.e., practice. It is very rarely that drummers instantly take to playing with a click ... and the same is true for many other musicians, although those playing melodic instruments may be more used to it having practiced against a metronome or recorded against one in their home studio. The more you play with a click the better your 'internal clock' becomes, so that even if you're playing without a click, your timing becomes much better.
   


2. Sometimes playing against a single click (crotchet click) can be quite difficult, particularly at slower tempos or in a different style such as swing. In these cases I try a couple of alternatives; a) I set the metronome at double speed so that you get quaver clicks. This is very helpful at much slower tempos as it gives a better point of reference for where you are, and b) I have a cheap (ca. £15) metronome/click that has different styles of click as well as different time signatures. So you can set the click to play in triplets, quavers, dotted quavers etc which I find really helpful with feel.

I have always found it helpful to have the click playing through headphones (preferably semi-open or open back) as it is more immediate in your hearing. The downside is that people often have the volume at rhino-stun level which can seriously damage their hearing very rapidly.

As you practice you will find playing in time with the click easier. I would advise not setting the volume too high for two reasons: i) Your hearing, and ii) you become less dependent on the click and more able to listen to your playing so as to maintain feel. You may find that you start with the click a little louder and then decrease the volume as you become more experienced and used to it.

A good tempo to start with is between 100 and 120bpm and then reduce this by 10bpm each time. Play against each tempo until you are comfortable with it and able to stay in time. Try a range of tempos right down to 40bpm. try also increasing the tempo up to your maximum capability. Drop back 5bpm, play until comfortable (e.g., 10 minutes) and then increase the click back to your maximum and try again. By using this method of pushing your tempo a little you will find that over time your speed and accuracy improves. You will also feel more comfortable across tempos.

Be aware that there will be some tempos you find really hard to play at a constant speed ... these will be different for each of us, but these are the ones that need most practice. Persevere and don't give in ... you will get there eventually.

Good luck!