Staying in time with a backing track

[Anonymous]

I have this problem with every new song i learn to play, when i record i get in front or behind etc..

this is a tip from my teacher…

BEFORE playing along to the backing track of a new song,
TRY CLAPPING along in time with the backing track,
if you cant clap along in time,
how can you possibly play along in time.
Also when you clap, say out aloud the counting (one two three four etc.)

Example
if the backing track is in 4/4 time,
then clap 4 beats to the bar,
and count out aloud one two three four
you need to make sure on the music sheet
that you are able to clap in time with
the 1st beat of every new bar.

when you can clap and count in time,
then start practicing the sax.

The advanced exercise to this is
to just CLAP ON THE 1st BEAT of every new bar,
and just SAY OUT ALOUD ONE, ONE, ONE at the
start of every new bar.

THE benifit of only clapping on the 1st beat of every bar,
comes in useful when you are playing music say in 6/8
time that is a very fast tempo (where it is impossible to
count one two three four five six for every bar at a very fast
speed, in these cases, you have to be able to clap on the ONE,
TO KEEP IN TIME)

this may or may not be of use,
but every music teacher
will say your will
improve a lot more
if you can clap
in time,
as opposed to
not being able
to clap in time
with a backing
track

[Martin Pavíček]

sxpoet, it looks reasonable, thanks for the idea

[RockinRobin]

I never know when to start the count. When does the first bar begin..I hear the band or orchestra.

[Anonymous]

That answer William will vary from backing track to backing track.
Backing tracks that have a count in shouldn’t be a problem.

Worst case scenario, is by trial and error, if you start off too early or too late, carry on clapping and you should at some point in the backing track be able to notice you are out of sync with the track. Make a mental note or a mark on the music sheet where that occurs, then restart the process from the beginning.

With various tracks, you often have to wait for a specific instrument to sound, or a certain note to be sounded, which is a signal to start playing (not necessarily to start counting/clapping). Listen out for that signal and start playing, it may not be the first beat of the bar.

In some cases, i get my teacher to play the backing track, and tell me where to start playing, or how to count in, as some backing tracks can be very tricky.

[john]

william, some songs may have a pickup but if we take Besame Mucho, the count starts on the first note which is at count 1 of the very first bar so this makes it easy to start your counting right. follow sxpoets advice from above post…clapping along is a lot easier than playing so you obviously won’t play it right if you can’t clap along right….right?!

[saxomonica]

Hi Guys i am finding the hand clapping working good for me as per earlier lessons blues page
But reading the music still rather hard
i am trying to memorize the sound
and then put to the musical notation
i guess trying to song in my head and make the sound on the sax
later the music notation makes more sense as the tune is in my head
hoping to progress
i love that song, wild weekend, say
i sing Dah Da da-da / da da dah-ah
if i could put another sound then just dah i would be able to memorize tones and the sycopation
sha, la, ra, bah etc
looking for a better way of memorizing songs
any ideas?
Thanx

[john]

there’s some holes in that theory and I wouldn’t teach how to read that way…
if you can read a note, then eventually you’ll be able to read a bar. when you learn to read that bar you can learn the following bar and so on.
when I work on learning or even memorizing a tune I simply start learning one bar (or phrase) at a time. If we just attempt to plough thru making mistakes all over the place, the next time we try it it’ll sound basically the same cause we haven’t worked anything thru yet.

Take it one bar at a time – learn to play it perfectly then move on to the next on – this is how we learn

[john]

also guys, for those in the premium Membership, there are those music reading helper videos in the “Theory” section were I do clap along with the music….this is a great place to practice clapping along with me in those videos! Most of the exercises there will topple many of the song sheet music so if you can master those beats you’ll be prepared for much of the repertoire offered.

[Jazz Cat]

re on the beat, i always have this problem; the only solution that worked for me is to get bg tracks that include an optional click track so theres a click on every beat.

exactly right j re mastering one bar at a time, thats how i worked thru charlie parker’s omnibook decades ago, it works

[saxomonica]

thanks @JazzCat i’ll get Clickin’
and try some clappin’
hey mate i like those you tube lesson vids you sometimes see where a cursor goes along the staff in time

yes @Johnny thanks for the brilliant clarification
the holes in my theory are from being a harmonica player
i think of all my scales and song riffs in hole numbers
say, 2suck 3suckpartbend 2suck 1suck 6blow 4suckbend-warble5suck 9blow 2suck

after nearly a year on the sax i still can’t read the music
i can’t get my head around it or my ol’ eyes on the page even
man i wish i was blinded by the light ..
i just can’t any sax tunes locked in my head
even like
cee ay a-a eff ef gee-eh
c c-c ay a-a eff ef gee- eh

Here’s a thang,

@Johnny could you do a tutorial on ‘Wild Weekend’in your Premium page?
Thanking you ever so much!

our hands are clapping in anticipation ..
let there be light!

Hi5 🙂

[Author]

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