Playing with a click!

For those who are practicing day and night but still feel unsure of their timing. This technique is really hepful because our minds and our ears can make us believe that we land on the click, when we are actually of by a bit!

Here is a different approach that I recently learned at the Atlanta Instiute of Music, by Tom Knight. He calls it playing upside down or displacement on the click. It is just as it sounds, there are different ways to do this. however I'm going to be discussing the 8th note displacement.

Ok, so you start by playing along with the click, for 4 bars or however long you want to, then you play 1 measure of 7/8, then immediately go back to 4/4. you will then be diplaced an 8th note behind the click. Being in this position allows you to really hear whether or not you are dragging or rushing. then to come out into the original click play 1 measure of 9/8. then try it with the measure of 9/8 first and coming out with 7/8. it helps to have your hi hat playing 8th notes. the hardest thing of this exercise is to feel the 1 after the measure of 7/8 or 9/8. when you're comfortable do fill while playing upside down on the click.

Hope this helps, it has cerainly helped me!