Good day, wise musical people, I am a late starter to music but one of the things I am struggling with is keeping proper time in my music. I can sing along to songs on the radio and generally keep time with them but I'd really like some exercises I could do to really get this. I play a wind instrument so it's like - jeez, I have to remember the fingering and breathe and keep time ..WTF! So how can I break it down so that I can have a 5 minute exercise I can include in my practice or even when I am driving to improve this? Thank you :-)
Singing along to a song is fine but it doesn't focus on the timing. Its better to beat out the pulse - not the rhythm, but the pulse or beat - of the piece whilst you listen to it. You can do this by clapping, tapping your feet or whatever but do it and keep it strict. Most popular music keeps to a very even tempo so this is usually straightforward. Very soon and you will get used to feeling the pulse of a piece and staying in time will become easier.
It certainly worked for me as a child.
But don't do it, especially the feet, whilst driving.
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Thanks for all the suggestions. So what I reckon I am going to do is get my metronome, take a scale and play it with the metronome, record it and then listen back to it to see where I am going astray. The plan is to make this part of my regular practice session.. – user6241 Mar 6 '17 at 8:54
