Drummer Cafe Community Forum

Hello fellow brethren,
After about a 17 year absence I have finally picked up the sticks again and have recently began jamming with some old buddies. I'm finding though that I'm having trouble falling in on the count with the first few chords in the first measure....any suggestions?

Are you doing the count-off?  If not, how many beats are you given to set the tempo in your head?  Are you doing "1-2, 1-2-3-4" or something similar that will give you a little time to lock in?

Are your buddies playing the first few chords "in time" ?

Unfortunately, there are too may guitar players out there who only see a count off as a starting point, with no conception that they are supposed to lock into the tempo created by it.

They should be following you.

Roger

Counting off is not as easy as alot of people think.  I still devote practice time to it on occassion.

You need a metronome or click device.  Most drummers don't work/practice with these tools, and most drummers are cheating themselves out of being the best they can be.

Dave suggests beginning the count with a "One- Two" He needs to reiterate that that should be counted in half time of the actual tempo.  So if your tempo marking is 1/4 note at 120 bpm you would only count the 1 (vocally stated as "ONE" and clicked simultaneously) and the 3 (as vocally stated as "TWO" and clicked off simultaneously); the actual 2 and 4 of this measure are silent.  

For the second measure of the count in you want to vocalize and click off all 4 beats or whatever time signature you are in (for now- there are many different ways of counting-  and at least three in 4/4 duple)

Now, hopefully you all have "jumped" into the tune.  

It helps to use the "tap" feature on your click device to get a bpm then write it down.  I usually practice clicking and playing to this by looking at the light then looking away.  When you look back a few bars later, you should be right on.

Remember, internalize the time in your "heart" and you will fine.  It gets easier with practice.

I like to vocalize the count-off as:

ONE-TWO-READY-GO

or

ONE-AND-TWO-AND-READY-AND-GO-AND

I find 4 counts sufficient.  I'm normally clicking my sticks together with the pulse, so the word "AND" (above) can be omitted.

As the band gets use to my count-off, I drop the vocal and just use 4 clicks with my sticks.

NOW, the HARD part for ME is remembering the tempo and how to start the song.  I don't like to wear my reading glasses while I play, so I normally don't use a song list with notes.

Yes.  Sorry.  Thanks for the clarification, Felix.

No problem, you owe me one now.   he he

a clarification that is

yeah, that's hard for anyone Paul especially when you are all fired up from a real barn burner and people are dancing, taking their clothes off, sitting on your lap, etc.

I've been taking my rhythm watch with me and just purchased a Yammy "click station" today (lit LCD and 85 metronomic presets + tap)

Since I've been doing this my cover band is just ecstatic and wants to hire me for all the jobs (currently I share the drum throne with another cat)

It REALLY helps, no matter how good or bad your meter is.  Settles disagreements about song tempi also- I've run into that already.

I wear contacts when I play also

WHERE the heck do you play, Felix?   ;D

I've never had anyone try to sit in my lap while playing.   ;D

If I did that my band mates would probably hurl their guitars at me.... just joking  ;D...... kind of.

When I count off I do the usual one, two, one two three four!

It hasn't happened since my early 30's, but yeah we dated for awhile after that.

I just hit the sticks together. Makes it seem like i'm really in control of the band...

Thanks for the feedback guy's, I'm getting some good stuff to contemplate. And Paul, I know what you mean about starting off the song and not quite remembering the tempo....I get wrapped up trying to anticipate the guitar player (listen to the bass right?!) and lose focus on my timing, maybe thats more so of how I should have phrased the question!  I've got the count, but if some one comes in just a little outta time or something funky happens I lose it! Once we have rehearsed the tune a few times I get the groove, I'm just am a bit frustrated by this quirky hang up!