Timing for Sweet Home Alabama (and all other songs)

hi Mike -

I do have a question which has been nagging me for a while in essentially all songs I've learned here at GT.

I can play the solos quite well from the lessons and they sound good to me, but when I play with a backing track I always lose my way in the solos (for most songs I play, not just Sweet Home). It clearly has to do my bad timing.

There are no time markers on the tabs that are there on GT. Well ... they are there but they are in french (you know what I mean :)). Is there an easy way to translate so I know which note to play on the beat or at the 1-e-n-a markers.

If these non-french time markers were there on the sheet next to the notes, I could fire up the metronome and get into the groove. But I'm finding it difficult to divine the timings.

Any tricks of the trade that you can suggest here? Do I need to slooow down the song and listen to the drum and make markings accordingly on printouts? Are lemurs just tiny raccoons? Why are hippos so mean? Why can't we all just get along Thanks for all your answers!

Great Questions! While I don't know much about lemurs and hippos (ha!), I hope I can help with your other question.

Your suggestion about slowing down the song and making markings on the transcription is actually a great plan. Slowing the song way down and studying the relationship between the lead guitar phrases and the pulse (or drums) of the song is really the only way to get inside the problem and work it out.

I would suggest dividing the solo into distinct chunks or licks -- every 2 or 4 bars. Play along with that small chunk at a much slower tempo, and loop it over and over (there are several software programs or apps available to slow down songs and loop sections these days). Once you've mastered the timing at the slow tempo, start increasing the tempo in small increments and repeat the process. Eventually, because of the repetition, you'll find it easier to think less about the mechanics as your muscle memory takes over.

I realize this is a lot of work, but the more you apply this regiment, the easier and easier it becomes to pick up the timing of solo phrases for any song.

Hope this is helpful! Let me know how it goes.

Mike

Hi Mike -

A question along the same lines:

Let's say the time signature is the common 4-4

If I take one bar and add up all the quarter, 18th notes, triplets etc. in it, will the total be equal to 4 quarter notes? Is that how it works?

I'm trying to make sense of the times "visually" as well hence the question.

Thx!

In a 4/4 time signature, 1 bar (or measure) equals 4 quarter notes. That's the count-in (1, 2, 3, 4) -- quarter notes.

Eighth notes count like this: 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and -- they divide the measure into 8 subdivisions.

Triplets would divide the quarter note into 3 --- so:
1 (2 3) 2 (2 3) 3 (2 3) 4 (2 3) --- 12 subdivisions

Sixteenth notes count like: 1 e and a 2 e and a 3 e and a 4 e and a --- 16 subdivisions in the bar.

And so on and so on...

Make sense?
Mike

Yes, that was very well said. Thanks for the clarity in your response.

As a follow up question: do triplets 1 (2 3) always have a "swing" feel to them or are they equally spaced three notes.

The swing comes from ignoring the 2 in the triplet -- so that the subdivision (or "and") in between 1 and 2 falls on the (3) of the triplet. That pulse is what gives that "swing" or "bounce" in the groove.

Make sense?

Sorry, I didn't follow you on this one Mark.

If these are the 12 subdivisions:
[indent]1 (2 3) 2 (2 3) 3 (2 3) 4 (2 3)[/indent]

The time when I hit the "2" (bold above) is actually at the "and" (in bold below):
[indent]1 and (2 and 3)[/indent]

So in essence, I'm not really playing the "2". I am playing the "and" after the 2. Is that right?

Thanks

I apologize for being a bit confusing in my explanation. Let me try again:

When you ignore the (2) in the triplet, your pulse becomes:

1 .. (3) 2 .. (3) 3 .. (3) 4 .. (3)

In a swung groove, that (3) -- the third accent of the triplet -- becomes the "and" -- so you feel it 1 .. (and) 2 .. (and) 3 .. (and) 4 .. (and)

Does that make sense?

Yes, got it. Thanks much!