[Noah]

If you read my topic in the introductions forum you can see that I'm trying to help my band's drummer has no rhythm (his name's Keith). A met a drummer today who said Keith should try a metronome.
It would have to have lights, or be really loud or something because has a really noisy kit (especially in our garage).
Any suggests on what metronome I should buy or any other solutions to his rhythm problem?

-Noah

[DrumBum1983]

I hate to sound completely negative, but a drummer with no rhythm is like a runner with no legs. It can be learned through practice...but to me it's nothing like having rhythm to begin with.

But on a more positive note, as I just said, it CAN be learned over time, and a metronome is a great way to do this. I have no particular suggestions on which one to buy, but playing loudly myself I would recommend something where one could wear earphones to hear the thing actually ticking instead of just depending on lights flashing (that's probably especially hard for someone without rhythm to begin with).

Another way to try to get rhythm is to listen to music with headphones while playing that music on the drums. That forces one to focus on the constant beat and not rush or slow down (this is especially good with jazz, for example...or I would recommend Coldplay, as they always have nice, steady beats to listen to and play with).

Good luck.

[skinslapper]

Drumbum makes some very good suggestions. Also I would try getting a handdrum, bongo, djembe and just let him play with it until he starts getting a solid, repeating rythm.

[mouse]

I suggest two things.
First for playing with the band a Lug Lock Tempo Ref. This attaches to the snare drum and has a decent size LED readout. It reads the tempo that the drummer is playing, so is in fact like a speedometer. It's just a matter of finding the correct tempo for the song and the drummer sticking with it.

I have used one of these for many years, it sorts any arguments about song tempo with the band members and over time you get used to tempos and find you don't look at it so much and it just becomes just a check. From using it every gig and at practices my timing has improved considerably with no loss of feel. The bands timing has as well, especially the rushing lead guitarist, aware that i'm not going to go along with him, but keep strictly as close to the right tempo as possible. Some drummers can tend to do that, speed up with another band member, and then get blamed for bad time and speeding up.


Secondly get a Korg Beatlab metronome for drummers personal practice. It's dead easy to use, has the rudiments inbuilt, a decent click, adjustable for strong/weak pulses, led lights etc.

Drumbum has a valid point, some people have no rhythm which is an important asset for a drummer. Despair not, i am living proof it can be learned, it just takes some dedication over a lot of time to find that inner groove.
Firstly one has to realise the fact that they have no rhythm and accept it, some won't listen unfortunately (not just drummers either).

	Pulse Drums Shop for Pulse Drums at Musician's Friend

[Julio de Ipanema]

What I say is simply what I have read: everyone of all top drummers and non-top drummers uses metronome, as sooner you practice with it, sooner you wil have your own-bodyclick-tempo. this only a resume, see all the pros of using a metronome in the virtualdrummerschool.com

[mattsmith]

Originally Posted by Julio de Ipanema

What I say is simply what I have read: everyone of all top drummers and non-top drummers uses metronome, as sooner you practice with it, sooner you wil have your own-bodyclick-tempo. this only a resume, see all the pros of using a metronome in the virtualdrummerschool.com

Hey Julio,

Lately, I've seen you spam up one Internet drum forum after another, pretending interest in a topic before dropping a free ad for your virtual school. You know it would be a lot cooler if you just took out real advertising.