Timing

[sxpoet]

the biggest problem with playing music sheets, is getting the timing right.

Here are common rhythm timing combinations that frequently occur in music sheets, and these should be included in a practice session, other than playing scales.

this video shows some of the most common rhythms that you can copy to a blank sheet and practice, if you cant play any of these in time with a metronome, then you certainly cant play a music sheet in time, unless you memorise the sheet.

[sxpoet]

[sxpoet]

[Leo Salu]

Howdy sxpoet those were pretty good, felt like i was sending morse code, have to admit the way i get to read the sheet accurately is to listen to the full track (by Johnny) and play along with him to i can play it in time, also it is a lot easier if i am familiar with the song to get the beat of it. Most of his songs are in 4/4 time which is quite like your exercisers.

[sxpoet]

i do exactly the same Leo only if i have a backing track that has a sax player in it.

Unfortunately when i play lots of music sheets that don’t have sax player in it to hear the timing on the sax – that’s where i come unstuck with the timing and would never play the sheet in time in a million years, the only way to improve is to practice metronome timing with those combinations – harsh but true.

My sax teacher used a different method to morse code as you call it
for
two sixteenth notes and an eight note – say ButTerFly (emphasis on the capital letters)
and eight note and two sixteenth notes – say AntEaTer
four sixteenth notes – say Aligator very fast

etc he used provide music sheets with those combinations, where you played the same note in time with a metronome and then with random notes, his method sounds less morse codey.

i try to avoid the saying ‘you cant teach an old dog new tricks’ lol, but i find it harder at my age in life to pick up new tricks

[Leo Salu]

I have the same trouble if i don’t have a track with a sax player, a lot of the older Johnny songs come down with out his full track, that’s when the fun begins trying to accurately play the song in time with out a guide, then i actually have to start paying attention to the notes and time not always fun.

[sxpoet]

You’re a lot better sax player than me Leo, i can tell that by how frequently you post your uploads, for me it would take several weeks to a month just to record one tune. Probably because i don’t practice for longer than an hour each day.

I’ve just started learning to play the clarinet, and it’s a lot more fiddly finger wise than playing the sax. it has holes to cover with your fingers and if you don’t cover them properly it sounds like a leaking pad on the sax, it has keys as well and they are a lot closer together than the sax, so it’s quite easy to accidentally touch other keys when you play and distort the sound.

it’s baby steps (fast playing is out of the question), so i’ve got to slowly work through those music grade books from scratch, even though i know most of the theory. The plus side, it’s refreshed my timing on the sax.

now i’ve got to start transposing my alto sheets to clarinet sheets, it’s similar to converting to Tenor sheets, except most of the time the clarinet notes are an octave below the tenor notes on the music sheets – if you want to make the same sound as the Alto. fortunately i have Finale software which has the option of selecting by any instrument in an orchestra as well as the long winded method of transposing by various intervals, diatonically or chromatically.

[Leo Salu]

Hey SP, i actually benefited from your timing videos tonight, was playing a song cold with out any sax player to follow and the practice with timing the notes 1/8 1/16 etc helped me time the song correctly so thanks for them. LS

PS good luck with your clarinet, tried playing one back in the late fifties and all i can remember getting was a series of squeaks and figured it was not for me so tried the trumpet no luck there either and finally realized that the good old saxophone was the instrument for me. I did take classical piano lessons for about 6 years and that was very helpful in learning to read music.

[sxpoet]

Well done Leo, those 8 common rhythms in the first video are the basic building blocks of timing and they occur in every music sheet. Just knowing them will tighten up the 32nd notes and the 64th notes as they all align up on the quarter note groves.

i find it impossible to count out the 32nd notes and the 64th notes as its too fast to say them out aloud, so i don’t bother too much with them. by just being able to count out up to the 16th notes like in the 8 common rhythms video, improves the placement of 32nd and 64th notes when you play.

I find with most new sheets, you can scan through the new sheet first and mentally sing the notes in time (dah, da da, dat dat da, da dat dat, dat dat dat dat etc.) then when you pick up the sax you have a far better focus on playing the sheet first time, than jumping straight into the sheet.

If you jump into a sheet straight away, you have two hurdles, 1) focusing on playing the right note while 2) also focusing on the right rhythm timing for each note at the same time. multitasking.
Whereas if you mentally sing the rhythm first on a new sheet, and then play through the sheet, you reduce the second hurdle and concentrate more on the playing the right note.

after time, you eventually stop going da da and automatically recognise the note patterns and play them better in time. All worth just a few minutes extra effort pays long term dividends.

an example of hearing the rhythm and singing the rhythm

[Leo Salu]

SP that’s why i like Johnny’s music so much, he does an amazing job transcribing and re-composing all of these pop songs mostly from the sixties which i am very familiar with. I usually just prior to playing the song take the sheet and follow along on it with him playing i make notes all over the sheet on how he plays it especially where the Coda’s go (i put arrows where to start) i also put a count on when to start playing. Its almost like playing a song by ear but with music. Your timing aides helped get me back to actually reading the note which i usually just play it by sound and how it feels to the beat. LS

PS the forum is a great place for info lately, a lot of talented players out there, not many places on the net where people are actually interested in just music.
BTW you are in the UK have you ever come across a pro sax player named “Jamie Anderson” he is quite the enthusiast for educating sax players very talented.

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