what is the correct tempo?

[gush]

This is a topic that gets debated a lot in my band. What do you consider the correct tempo?

We struggle to keep songs at the correct tempo in my band, I am talking about covers only. Most bands that I have been in over the years seem to play too fast and it's something that really bothers me. I feel that when a song is played too fast it becomes harder to find that groove and it's also harder to execute parts cleanly. It just feels so garage band.

The common remark is, well the song is dragging. My response is, well when you listen to the original recording does it seem slow???? Do you say it would have been a better song if it was faster? Well?

Is this just something that sets weekend warriors apart from professionals? I get so bummed when a song is too fast and the band can't nail it. How do you forum brothers and sisters cope with this? I will be working on starting a new group and want to be rid of this problem once and for all.

I'm all ears.

 

[Herr Squid]

The drummer's job is to keep a tempo that the band can work with.

If the band decides collectively to slow the song down for groove or speed it up for energy, that's cool.

But if tempos are just wandering all over the place, or the band can't agree on a tempo, then you're right! /Those are very garage band problems. The band needs to agree on and hold the drummer accountable for tempos, or maybe some personnel changes are needed.

 

[vchizzle]

Some people have a great "clock" and some don't. Biggest thing is to clock a song out with a metronome so you know the proper tempo and practice to it. The click never lies! All depends on how tight the band wants to be and how much work everyone is willing to do. It's a pain but only makes everyone better. We do this when we write, find a happy medium that all parts of the song feel comfortable at, then rehearse to a metronome. Especially before we go in to record. Then record to the click. Tempo will always be faster live when playing a show too, there's adrenaline, booze, etc. that make people speed up. Many pro bands, have at least the drummer playing live to the click, especially if they're using any type of sampling or whatever.

 

[gush]

You find this interesting Herr Squid but it's my singer that always wants to play songs too fast.

 

[gush]

Some people have a great "clock" and some don't. Biggest thing is to clock a song out with a metronome so you know the proper tempo and practice to it. The click never lies! All depends on how tight the band wants to be and how much work everyone is willing to do. It's a pain but only makes everyone better. We do this when we write, find a happy medium that all parts of the song feel comfortable at, then rehearse to a metronome. Especially before we go in to record. Then record to the click. Tempo will always be faster live when playing a show too, there's adrenaline, booze, etc. that make people speed up. Many pro bands, have at least the drummer playing live to the click, especially if they're using any type of sampling or whatever.

This is my position. With it getting tougher for live bands to thrive, I want to raise the bar for other bands to follow. I want our band to be ridiculous tight and I want to put in the extra work. I want a band that people want to see. What I don't want is lame ass excuses.

I like the idea of playing to a click during practice. I can do that in my studio when we practice without too much trouble.

 

[László]

A few years ago I put together a band for a young singer-songwriter I produced a record for, and until he found regular members to tour with, I brought in my session guys to do shows. Basically the shows were the album I produced and played on, plus a few fun things like some Allmans stuff, etc., that the artist liked.

The drummer we used most often was not only a great session player, he was also the drummer the Detroit Symphony called on when they needed someone to play traps. He not only charted out the record's drum parts for himself, but he made note of every song's tempo, and brought an electronic metronome that he plugged headphones into for every single live show. Between songs, he would set the metronome for the next song's tempo, put the cans on, and play the tightest tempo you ever heard. And needless to say, the guy is a great drummer, too, so there's that.

Yeah, this terrific drummer was not too proud to stick some cans on his head and play to a click at live shows. And man, it worked so well.

We...um...didn't actually practice because we are all session guys, we all knew the parts and just showed up and played...yeah, I know that's soooo wrong, but...

Anyway, our shows were great, we got asked to do South By Southwest in Austin (a fun experience) and we had a groove so deep and so wide that it seemed like we had forever between notes. Best playing experience I've ever had. We were freakin' TIGHT.

Didn't hurt that our bass player had toured with Prince. So we had quite the rhythm section.

Sounds like you need a new singer. A singer who can deliver a song and really carry a tune well doesn't need an artificially fast tempo.

 

[Majje63]

We've tried it with a metronome. The funny thing was that what felt like an good tempo one time was to fast or to slow the next rehearsel. Nothing wrong with the metronome and I can't explain why this happened. Maybe it depended on adrenaline. Some songs always in the right tempo some we still have problems with so we have all the covers in a spotify list and I and the bassplayer listen for a couple of seconds to get the right tempo/groove and that works better then the metronome.

 

[Jet Whitey]

This is a topic that gets debated a lot in my band. What do you consider the correct tempo?

We struggle to keep songs at the correct tempo in my band, I am talking about covers only. Most bands that I have been in over the years seem to play too fast and it's something that really bothers me. I feel that when a song is played too fast it becomes harder to find that groove and it's also harder to execute parts cleanly. It just feels so garage band.

The common remark is, well the song is dragging. My response is, well when you listen to the original recording does it seem slow???? Do you say it would have been a better song if it was faster? Well?

Is this just something that sets weekend warriors apart from professionals? I get so bummed when a song is too fast and the band can't nail it. How do you forum brothers and sisters cope with this? I will be working on starting a new group and want to be rid of this problem once and for all.

I'm all ears.

Click Track!

 

[John Beef]

Our drummer plays with a click during practice and live shows, and then we play along with him. When we are writing the songs as a group we usually try out a few tempos within 10-15 BPM and settle on one. It was something the bass player and I suggested when we started playing together, and it was something he had never done before, so it took some getting used to on his part.

We recorded another album (almost done!) over the winter break and man! Our drummer has really gotten to be spot on with those tempos. Last album he struggled a bit, but this time he was dead on throughout our sessions.

The thing is though, if you're in a cover band, especially if you're doing older stuff, a lot of it wasn't done to metronomes. We did a cover of War Pigs at one of our shows and our drummer was trying to figure out the tempo - there wasn't one, there were many and it varies quite a bit through the song.

 

[Herr Squid]

You find this interesting Herr Squid but it's my singer that always wants to play songs too fast.

Oh, I believe it. I could trot out all kinds of nasty lead singer stereotypes to "explain" that...

Is the singer looking for a gimmick to get you guys noticed?

 

[watelessness]

The worst tempo is the one that changes every time the drummer does a fill.

 

[jfb]

I don't play out, but I think I'd keep them to original tempo. Especially Katy Perry tunes. She's my jam.