In this lesson, we will examine the most important fundamental principle you must learn before playing in a band.
One of the main guitar fundamentals that you must learn before trying to play with a band is timing!! You must learn to develop proper timing!
I can’t begin to tell you how many guitar players I’ve come across over the years who know their chords, scales, how to strum, arpeggiate, etc, but don’t have good timing.
This is a fundamental skill that all musicians need to work on. Especially if they are going to play with others. Even if you’re going to take your guitar over to a friend's house to jam for fun. You can know the chords, but if you can’t switch them in the proper timing sequence, you’ll be off and you’ll throw the other person off.
If you want to play with others, (a band or just a single person) it is best to work on learning songs. And the best way to develop your timing in this area is to play with the recording of the song.
When you practice with the song you accomplish a few things:
You develop timing because it forces you to keep up with the tempo instead of playing at your own pace.
You learn where you need to be in a group ensemble. Each instrument has its place in the “machine” so to speak.
You learn how to listen to the other instruments. This is where people lack, just playing songs by themselves without the recording.
You develop discipline as it takes work to get through a whole song. Even if it’s a short one like 3 minutes.
You get a sense of accomplishment if you can make it all the way through without crashing or stopping. Very much like going through a maze and getting to the other side.
And, you build self-confidence while having fun learning. Which is the most important aspect of playing an instrument.
These are things that can be learned by playing along with the recording. And what’s great about it, is you can learn them all at the same time. Killing many birds with one stone. So to speak.
So if you want to play in a band with other musicians, make sure you work on the fundamental principle that is most crucial. TIMING!!
This will carry you through the most. And if you need any help with your chords, scales, strumming, etc, be sure to visit my website for free guitar lessons that can help you in these areas.
Best of luck.
Dwayne Jenkins
