Everyone knows the drummer keeps the time in a band, right? Or in an orchestra, the conductor leads the tempo with his/her baton? What about in a string quartet? Who controls the tempo there? No matter what type of group we’re talking about, there is no such thing as one person who dictates the tempo. However, I encounter a lot of players who react to the drummer, or the conductor, or sit back waiting for someone else to take the lead in a chamber ensemble. And later on, when listening to that player alone, it turns out their time is terrible.
I don’t think this is because that player doesn’t have the capacity to keep time on their own, but because they aren’t exercising it, passively waiting on someone else to tell them what the tempo is.
The process of making music with others is an exercise in communication. Tempo, being one of the most fundamental aspects of music, should not be left to one person alone. Everyone has a say in it, or at least they should. So, I’m advocating that every player out there think about this, and take personal ownership over the time.
The irony of this is that I’ve played with a few drummers who don’t seem to want to do this. But it’s their “job” to count off the band and lead the tempo, so they do it (sort of). Here is a simple mental process to use when you’re about to count off a tune:
1) If you already know the song, either from playing it in the past or from a recording, try to hear it in your head. If it’s a cover, where’s the tempo in the original. Chances are the tempo is one of the things you like about the tune, so explore that. Hear it in your head. Keep listening to it in your head and snap your fingers or tap your foot to the beat you hear in your head. You have now internalized the time.
2) At this point, you know how fast you want to take this tune, and by snapping or tapping you’re communicating it to the others in the group. Sometimes this leads to a band discussion on the tempo. That’s good. Go ahead and talk about it. Only through that process are you and your band-mates going to come to a real agreement about the tempo.
3) Keep on it!. Keep tapping your foot. It’s a common mistake that when you get to a passage that’s difficult to play you slow down. It’s also common for drummers to speed up, especially if it’s a beat they really like playing. Listening is important here. I’ve never been too successful as a horn player trying to rein in a speedy drummer, but I try to do what I can in the hopes that they’ll hear that and agree with my sense of the tempo.
Also, I want to make a distinction between listening and reacting. When you’re reacting, you’re doing something after the beat has passed, and thus you already missed whatever it was you were supposed to do. You may still do it, but now it’s late. Listening means you are keyed in to what everyone else is doing and understanding it in a larger sense. Listening is holistic.
A final note: Band dynamics can be funny some time, but I’ve never had a problem looking the drummer in the eye and snapping my fingers to the tempo I’m hearing in my head. Making music is inherently a collaborative act, and should be treated as such.
And one more thing: if you’re counting off the tune at one tempo and then playing it at another tempo, you definitely need to stop and reevaluate how you’re doing things.
more articles by Brien Henderson
- Anatomy of the Blues Scale
- A Great Site for Old Music
- Every Musician Should Read This
- Saxes: Work Your Pinkies!, part 1
- Spice Things Up With The Tritone Sub
- Writing Your Own Music: How To Get Started
- Intro to chords in Jazz
