Metronome Practice Room Techniques Part II
In Part I of this article, we addressed new practice room techniques to maximize what a basic metronome has to offer. While there certainly is much to gain from practicing with a metronome, the options are even greater if one replaces their metronome with a drum machine or sequencer. This second part of the article will explore some of those additional options.
In the last article, we explored the idea of not having the metronome click on every beat. However, this is limited in scope: one has to have a metronome that can be programmed to half of the tempo one is playing at, and one is limited to variations rooted in setting the click to half the original tempo (setting the click to every other beat, or every other off beat, etc.). A drum machine or sequencer does not present that same limitation. Here are some examples which set the click somewhere other than "right on every beat."
If it's a challenge to only have the click fall on every other beat, then it follows that it's even more of a challenge to have the click fall even less often, say once every fourth beat:
...and similarly, we can set it to click once every fourth beat, but somewhere other than beat one:
...or even on every fourth off beat:
In these three examples, there is even more time between clicks, meaning the player is even more responsible for keeping track of the time, compared to having a click on every beat or even every other beat.
Thus far, within each example, every measure has been the same: the click always falls on every beat, or on every other beat, or always on "the and of two," etc. A drum machine doesn't offer that restriction - different measures can be programmed differently, offering far more variety than a basic metronome.
One can alternate measures with and without the click. (To get a measure of "silence," simply don't program anything into that measure.) This exercise is great for practicing one's fills, specifically the ability to keep the tempo the same when switching from the groove to a fill and back again. Simply vary the number of measures of "click" and "groove," to correspond to the number of measures of each in the exercise ("three bars of groove, one bar of fill," etc.). Here's an example which consists of one measure of "click," and one measure of silence:
A sequencer or drum machine also allows for the programming of different rhythms, helpful when practicing grooves to be played with a percussionist (program in a conga rhythm, or clave, etc.). It's also beneficial when practicing soloing over ensemble "hits," such as this vamp:
A sequencer allows one to do whatever one can do with a drum machine, but it further expands one's options to include bass lines, chords, other percussion instrument sounds, and longer loops and patterns. One could even program an entire song or composition into the sequencer, to practice playing along to it. This is similar to standard "playalong" recordings, but unlike those recordings, a sequencer offers several advantages. On a recording, one is limited to the tempo which was chosen at the time of the recording, and also the length of that recording. If these materials are programmed into a sequencer, then one has the ability to change the tempo, or to repeat the sequence indefinitely. One could practice playing against the "hits" in example 9, for example, for two straight hours, if one wished.
Drum machines have been around for years, and some drum machines which are far below "state of the art" can be had for a very fair price, while still offering the capabilities needed for the sorts of applications discussed in this article. For not much more than the cost of a good metronome, one can often find a second-hand drum machine. The "drum sounds" on the machine may be dated, if not downright cheesy, but we're not looking for something to perform or record with, just something to practice with, so the quality of sounds isn't as important as the ability to program different beats and patterns.
Practicing with a metronome is great, and offers many benefits in its own right. It is no accident that metronomes have become such an integral part of just about every musician's practice routines. With a little bit of creativity, and especially if one upgrades to a drum machine or sequencer, there's an almost unlimited source of materials one can work with in the practice room.
Linear Mode
