Can you improve your rhythm WITHOUT a metronome? Q+A

[@smizmi5467]

I just mindlessly clicked on this thinking "how did I miss this one during the pandemic?" just to realize it was posted 6 minutes ago. So happy to see more of these.

[@arunkarthikma3121]

Yesss, finally more Q&A's! 🥳

[@hi_artmoto]

A very old school Adam Neely thumbnail

[@esoteridactyl]

He's done quite a few in the past year or so

[@mpalin11]

Same!

[@Wreniffer]

NO WAY COZ I SAW THIS IN THE MORNING AND THOUGHT I HAVE SEEN IT BEFORE

[@Koettnylle]

Not only a great drummer, his head is incredibly shiny too. There might be a correlation.

[@DSteinman]

Unlike Adam, he never got big enough on KZbin to afford hair

[@klaxoncow]

@@DSteinman Nice beard, though.

[@abelartist7122]

The hauk "sigh" 😂

[@windoos1587]

The brainrot has got to him

[@Konrad83]

Greatest ad cut ever

[@habbi1974]

I blushed and I'm not even an english speaking person xD

[@ddragonwhistler]

Can someone explain the joke? My decrepid old man brain isn’t what it used to be.

[@armstrong.r]

@@ddragonwhistler Google "hawk tuah" and I'm sorry

[@MrDontAsk3]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="766">12:46</a> Adam! We need you to finish this cover of Nessun Dorma! It's too beautiful to not be heard!

[@AdamNeely]

I have an album I recently recorded with Lau Noah where we do it, it needs to be mixed, but it’ll come out soon!

[@Catefn]

And here I got all excited ‘cause I thought you were singing it…ok your bass rendition is nice, I guess.😁

[@judih.8754]

​@@AdamNeelycan't wait for this!

[@dallinyauney3131]

I've heard people talk about "stress-timed languages" for years now, but I've never actually understood it until today. Great example

[@Longitudelineloser]

MARYLAND MENTIONED 🦅🦅🦅🦅🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="28">0:28</a>

[@Longitudelineloser]

Proud marylander 💪💪💪

[@evildude109]

Adam fake Myrrhlinur confirmed, no old bay in the background of the shot.

[@huntersoth3502]

Baltimore here :))

[@Longitudelineloser]

@@huntersoth3502 born in Baltimore and raised in Baltimore/annapolis

[@AlKohaiMusic]

If only we had an old bay emote

[@T-Bore]

As a metal head I agree, Sungazer's music is very well suited to metal concerts. Thank you so much for lots of knowledge and music over the years, dude. Much love from Leipzig 💚

[@TheDarkMessiah]

Also, the fact that they toured with Plini certainly gave them some metal cred already.

[@MrKylederp]

They're more suited playing with progressive metal bands. Couldn't see them opening up for Slayer and it going well with the crowd.😅😅

[@kevinsundelin8639]

I think it makes sense, prog is the metal genre that has the most clear jazz influences

[@digitaljanus]

​@@kevinsundelin8639I recently heard "Why didn't Americans have a prog rock scene in the 60s and 70s? Because they had jazz fusion." Made sense to me.

[@CatFish107]

​@@MrKylederpagreed.

[@millerjimd]

I’m thankful to an early drum instructor of mine who insisted I.e. required me to count out loud. He referred to it as developing 5-way independence.

[@LordIronblade]

Came for the Q+A, stayed for Mary Spender absolutely cooking Adam over the pronunciation of baroque lmao

[@itsmikehayden]

Your first point about subdivisions feels similar to how i tell my piano students to freeze and keep their fingers down, plan what theyre going to do next and very slowly, and with direct focus, change their fingers and repeat. Ive always felt that muscle memory doesn't care about how long you take to do an action, but if they just rush through and make mistakes, that can become a sticking point or trouble spot. But i wonder, does muscle memory care about the time between actions, or am I on to something about making conscious and deliberate actions in sequence yet out of time.

[@FreeBroccoli]

Mary Spender be like "Baroque Obama."

[@Skip6235]

I switched from Sibelius to Musescore. There was some growing pains, but I’m glad I did at this point. Now I can go much faster in Musescore

[@VivianWasntHere]

I love musescore and its a lot more intuitive. Also it crashes constantly so you should feel right at home if you used sibelius

[@Wreniffer]

@@VivianWasntHerelmao so true I haven’t heard of sibelius before?

[@VivianWasntHere]

@@Wreniffer Girl it’s literally the industry standard

[@bazzfromthebackground3696]

​@@VivianWasntHereMay the old king die, and the Muse king rise.

[@scooterkingist]

My soul lifted from my body with that arrangement of "Nessun Dorma" <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="767">12:47</a> sooooooooo gooood, I'll never play a 5 string bass with a low b again

[@elliottgordon3679]

Out of nowhere with the awesome riff

[@klunkmenno]

29 seconds ago uploaded... sick! now i have something to do

[@Sushi_the_Idiot]

I love the hawk tuah solo

[@Jim_Thomas_Draper]

That's impressive flexibility

[@KaltOhm]

I missed these Q&A’s so much!!

[@tsbjork5549]

That second question was mine! Thank you so much for including it and answering :) As a Swede, it feels better to know that I don't necessarily have to spend a fortune and go to NYC to study this music when the tuition here in the EU is free lol (even though I understand it most probably would be best to study in the ''jazz-mecca'') Looking forward to my eventual trip to New York though!

[@nagaten6350]

If you have the time, check out New Orleans and Chicago too! They also have jazz traditions that are different from New York.

[@computer_toucher]

As an old, the way of writing "Hawk Tuah" is "Hock Ptooey" but I grew up on old 30's animation and comics

[@kozmobluemusic]

i apologize, my generation is responsible for recycling existing ideas and rebranding it as something original, like how they think “cancel culture” is a new thing and “boycotting” is just a word that will offend blue haired lesbians

[@VivianWasntHere]

Ignoring like, half your message, many have thought that “yapping” “slay” “womp womp” “hawk tuah” and many others are somehow new in anyone

[@iTzic21]

@@VivianWasntHere thank god they not in me

[@IrukaLP]

Adam Neely Channl for life, I always comeback to it and i never had more the urge to make music after wwatching one o your videos

[@AbsolutlyN0thin]

been following you for a long time. am a metal fan much more than a jazz fan. I'd think you'd be surprised how many of us like the type of music you make

[@mjweaver39]

I made the switch Finale to Dorico last year, working on a pit score. The first number was a slog, but by the time I got to the 40th number I was grooving faster than I ever was with Finale. It can be done!

[@dipkatTO]

Thank you so much for your CLEAR explanation of counting rhythm out loud while playing. I’m an amateur pianist and currently struggling to learn Arlington Jones’ Wrongfully Accused - a smash of a jazz piece! This is SO handy.

[@thebookofdaniel5837]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="690">11:30</a> When I keep tapping the Jack cable

[@LilOlFunnyBoy]

The way you describe learning to play and count The Chicken is exactly what I have to do to learn to play and sing a song. I can't learn each separately and put them together, I have to figure out slowly where the syllables and notes coincide (or don't) treating the voice and guitar as a single instrument.

[@conorreedR2C]

I'm always telling my students that they'll feel stupid counting out loud, but that's because it's making them smarter. I wish I could explain this as succinctly as you do in this video, but I guess life doesn't come with Final Cut Pro 😂

[@seenbelow]

Just want to say as a metalhead i absolutely love your music and you're spot on with Sungazer being needed at metal festivals :)

[@DasGanon]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="645">10:45</a> No joke I still absolutely love your Djazz cover of The Hills and absolutely would shout that album from the hill tops if you made one

[@boptillyouflop]

*Cries in syllable-timed French*

[@musicdev]

You opened this video and just causally blew my god damn mind showing us how rhythmic English is. Good stuff as always, Adam

[@Splattle101]

00-04.00. You're describing my experience of playing tricky guitar parts while singing a rhythmically-unrelated vocal. It's like having a stroke, but without the headache.

[@Smokeyranger1986]

Dude, great to see your success since high school! The algorithm put this video on my front page. Another Rackey alum building their place in the performance art community with this channel.

[@gcahbm]

Damn... that short Nessun Dorma improv... it sounds so warm like someone just jamming at a fireplace whilst the sun rises again, after a long and intense night

[@EvanYoungMusic]

Thank you for teaching me something new today. I will be implementing the counting out of time with my elementary band kids now!!!

[@salmiac-3105]

This came out as I was struggling to learn my first groove on the drums. Great help!

[@jada90]

I miss this type of content. Doesn't even need to be the Q+A although the breadth of topics is nice. But a bit of the old neuroscience with the timing portion, then we got a bit of world culture and jazz history. Nice

[@alejandrojjimenezquintero2957]

Yesss this is why I love this channel so much. Music, science, history.

[@someonequinof]

no way hawk tuah reached adam neely's channel

[@Abe_Putnam]

Bro I was just thinking about this while listening to Whalefall from the newest album, I figured out that it was in 5/4 pretty quick and it was fun to try to stay with it through the song

[@sur2823]

My steel band director uses phrases to match with common rhythms that we play. Matching a memorable phrase is another way to remember and accurately play back a rhythm, because it matches the rhythm in your speech!

[@MrYuryZ]

Thank you for including Bach in this video. My favorite composer. Listening to him everyday at least an hour. Started learn to play the piano because of his Heaven Music.

[@A.B.H_da-goat]

When you're about to do your homework but then adam neely drops another banger...

[@FragileCreatures]

The counting out loud and playing thing reminded me of the total ballache of learning vocal melodies to sing at the same time as playing synchopated parts.

[@nagaten6350]

There are a couple of mindblowing Hal Galper masterclass videos on KZbin that talks about using the physical sound of the instrument-instead of a metronome-to build your relationship with rhythm and time while at the same time getting to know your instrument better.

[@meruru8314]

I like how the "talking the rhythm out loud" thing sort of mirrors the advice for instrumental soloists to shape their solos as if they were sung (stress, pause, etc...)!

[@modjohnsenglishdisco]

During Covid I dedicated myself to really learning how to sing and play at the same time. I think it really improved my rhythm. As an English teacher for non-natives, this all makes sense as I'd never really made the connection until now. Very helpful, as usual. Thanks.

[@Tminus89]

Nessum Dorma on bass was certainly nice!!! Much appreciated, my granddad used to sing it 😄

[@javidappledehli2359]

As a brass player your advice at the beginning was very interesting because while my mouth is obstructed when playing, I use the same type of process when thinking the counts in my head. I have always been taught to speak out the rhythm in a similar manner and internalize it as a conscious thought while I’m playing. So it has gotten to the point where I am processing the notes and a voice counting in my head

[@cbolt4492]

Will watch this over and over...

[@smullyart]

I'm from Belgium and my fondest memory from my trip to New York was the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra at the Village Vanguard :)

[@thecountbassy_]

Dang, the Bass Synth Wah has been one of my favorite pedals for more than a decade, got it super cheap used, glad to see it getting some appreciation!

[@Me-wi6ym]

Consistent physical movement (like marching) can be another great way to improve your rhythm. I've done literally the exact same process you described here to figure out where each of my steps should hit in more complex passages. Check out a few top DCI or BOA groups to see some actual rhythmic insanity. You don't even need to play for this to work either. Just singing the part while you walk can be incredibly helpful.

[@CandyGRLxo]

Omg finally someone validating my high C take! I play a 6 string bass and have it tuned BEADGC because it just makes more sense!

[@AxeMan808]

I *immediately* went to using the Voice Metronome on my synth drums. It's NOT as good as me counting off myself, but it's way better than clicks, taps, or beeps (1/8 does "1 and 2 and 3 and 4", so that's cool).

[@SamChaneyProductions]

The Books is a music project that did an incredible job highlighting the rhyms of the English language. The backbone of many of their songs is found audio recordings from thrift stores of people talking, then they then deduce the rhythms of the speech and add beautiful guitar and cello, and DIY percussion like PVC pipe drums. It's hard to describe, sort of like an intricate musical collage, but very engrossing, emotional and beautiful, sometimes pretty strange

[@billyalarie929]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="471">7:51</a> that is one of THE MOST INCREDIBLE VERBAL GAFFES OF ALL TIME, E V E R. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@RayvenNeverland]

that was a smooth ad transition omg

[@dsnodgrass4843]

I used to work in a speed/death/hardcore-style metal band, where the drummer was on his double-kicks like 95% of the time. I learned to work more by his snare accents, and to make myself felt on the bass by "editing" - dropping out at certain points, them slamming in. As a bassist in that music, no one hears you when you play; but everyone senses it when you stop. It all floats in the air, briefly; but when you "slam in", the groove slams in too.

[@mostly2143]

Took me a minute to register this was in my feed while I was scrolling.

[@brumd]

Back in the 80s/90s in The Netherlands we had a nighttime radio show, hosted by saxophone player Hans Dulfer (father of Candy Dulfer, who a.o. played in Prince' band), and he would play Sonny Rollins back-to-back with Slayer etc. explaining the similarities between styles. I loved that show. No surprise Sun Gazer does well on a metal festival.

[@jacefairis1289]

as a bassist/guitarist and finger tapping enthusiast: its kinda crazy how much easier it is for me to tap that syncopated rhythm with one hand and the beat with the other hand, than it is to tap the rhythm and Count the beat Out Loud. It's like I can feel a different part of my brain turning on when i start counting. I've always heard from music teachers that counting out loud is important, but its nice to be reminded Why that is lol

[@ezraschwartz5201]

Great insights, and highly motivating, as always! Thank you Adam!

[@constantineanama7577]

Omg so useful! So insightful. Thanks, subscribed to hear more

[@burning_trash]

I discovered this on my own the past year I feel validated that you made a segment about it! Obviously I still use s metronome but taking it away when playing super slow and using my b voice helped.

[@nolanbrown129]

The croc is such a cool venue and from personal experience I have seen many bands get much bigger after rolling through and playing the crocodile and other sized venues.

[@seanofpeace]

Here's a good way to practice your time by yourself: March. Yes. Put on some music on your headphones and walk to the beat. Your whole body has to feel the beat and you'll get better.

[@vivsavagex]

yes! rhythm is VERY connected with movement. dancing will help you with rhythm too. eurythmics used to be a part of music school curriculum and i wish it would come back. a lot of people who seriously study music shy away from dance/movement and they could make their lives easier (and more fun) if they did not.

[@seanofpeace]

@@vivsavagexI was in a garage band with some guys in the 80s, one of whom marched to and from school every day with his Walkman. He kept better time than the drum machine we had. 😂

[@raymondforbes4295]

Looking forward to you coming back to Seattle!

[@johnchessant3012]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="766">12:46</a> nessun dorma!

[@LitCast]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="58">0:58</a> Stevie T saying "IPickupAPancake" pops into my mind

[@drakevegas7073]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="469">7:49</a> People are going to watch this video two years from now and not understand why this happened.

[@MSkwar]

Tabit is and always will be the best notation software for writing MIDI drums. You can subdivide any amount of 16th notes by 1-16 notes. The hotkeys for moving around are so foreign to any other music software, but if I am writing drums for a song I already know, I am LIGHTNING. I transcribe drums in tabit, then export. til death.

[@jaredkelly925]

Really looking forward to seeing you in Montreal again!

[@andrewnicon]

The stressed time thing kinda blew my mind.

[@garputhefork]

I've been linux-only since 2005, and I've been using lilypond since then. It's a big learning curve (made less steep, if you know LaTeX already). But it means that it can't get shut down by corporate interests. (Or will be forked by someone, since it's libre/open-source.)

[@ColossusBall]

Going to see you guys in December. Can't fucking wait. So jealous of my friends that got to see you in Boston recently.

[@FunkyKikuchiyo]

Speaking of languages/rhythm, I’ve been listening to a lot of Japanese artists in varying genres and am struck by how incredibly locked in everyone is rhythmically, and even an average drummer over there would be good enough here for write ups in drum magazines. I don’t speak Japanese, but I know the Japanese ear doesn’t hear language as split up in syllables but rather in “mora” which is more like a beat. It is also a very fast language. I wonder if they’re ear trained to stay in time even at fast tempos early on because of this.

[@216trixie]

I teach piano and I make my students count out loud always. Definitely a strong connection.

[@falloutfan2502]

Great to see ya back! And gotta be tuning higher to be closer to "real guitar"! :P

[@slayerat5280]

I love the amount of metal in this video. 🤘🏼

[@davidhollenstein5467]

Great, now that I know that english is that rhythmic, I will never ever stop tapping along to my professors' lectures. Will that make them more interesting? Probably not.

[@BenRichards227]

On learning a new tool: I switched from QWERTY to Dvorak during a summer internship when I had a lot of typing to do, but not many tight deadlines.

[@adamguitar1498]

I'm a huge advocate of counting while playing to help with internal time. Once my students get decent with that, I have them attempt it where they have to draw out the count for the duration of the beat. Counting staccato vs tenuto. Kind of similar to how playing a rhythm on the "e" and "a" of a beat feels very different if you keep the notes at a 16th duration, and play the rest vs holding the notes for an 8th note duration.

[@danielchandc]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="470">7:50</a>😂😂😂😂

[@briano6115]

I missed that gorgeous example of the Pastorious bass bit due to a poorly timed unrhythmic goddam KZbin commercial insertion. I swear those people are merciless. Cheers :)

[@veiledAutonym]

I know everybody sees Harvey Danger as a one-hit-wonder band but you GOTTA give their album Little By Little a try, it's absolutely sublime.

[@TheTobesOfHades]

Pink and orange PJs are metal!!! Rock on!

[@J0us0u]

Oh wow, I had no idea you were coming to Tallinn! See you there! 😊

[@porgy29]

Metal, Prog, and Jazz Fusion are all genres with a focus on incredible musicianship and are accepting of non-traditional song structures. As someone who is generally a bigger fan of Prog than Jazz, I can easily see people appreciating you at that time of venue.

[@jdjk7]

I had been playing bass for about 6 years before I ever thought about trying to play with a metronome. However, thru playing in bands and playing at jam sessions, I'd played with a solid few dozen drummers pretty regularly over those years. As a result, my ability to match rhythms developed pretty well, whether it's to a click-perfect groove or one that's rhythmically sloppy.

[@Justus8]

First chapter is so cool!

[@judih.8754]

I love these Q&A's!!

[@LynnHermione]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="472">7:52</a> feels so odd seeing fully dressed middle aged men as drummers XD

[@Snakeplisskin440]

I read this title to the tune of "Handlebars" By Flobots lol. "I can keep rhythm with no metronome. No metronome. No metronome."

[@MuziekmeesterKevin]

For me Sibelius is exactly the same feeling. It’s riddled with bugs, but had so many plug-ins, options and muscle memory build in. Now it’s hard to convince myself to switch.

[@UrbanGarden-rf5op]

Nice to hear that intro music again. Like a dear old friend reaching out. I consider my brain my most important muscle. And like all muscles it needs exercising. So I try to go to the brain gym as often as possible. Repetition not only legitimises, it also strengthens the synapses needed to retain and know where to find the things I learn. Thank you for being my personal trainer😎 If you'd like to understand more about Bach's music, check out people like Christopher Hogwood and the Early Music Consort. They used period correct instruments tuned to the standard pitch and temperament of the time. It is a very different listening experience. They also recorded works of other baroque composers using the same concept. On the double bass drums you didn't mention Keith Moon. There is very little focus on the hi-hat in The Who's music. He was too busy with the bass drums and the toms. Of course I watched this on Nebula. A perfect platform for long form deep dive videos without the need of a clickbait strategy.

[@Blossom_Nova]

Love the Todd in the Shadows shout out

[@ldbonq]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="468">7:48</a> over the Hawk WHAT?

[@LousyBlowfish]

Thanks for coming to Seattle, the Crocodile is dope

[@McDoinky]

On my first day as an RMA Musicology student at UU, our teacher told us about two former students who went to see Sungazer live, and when they introduced themselves to you, your answer started with: “I’m not a musicologist, but…”. Everyone in the room laughed.

[@MattKeenanMusic]

when you said 'stay tuned' in relation to play more rock/metal shows after the warm welcome at Radar... I really hope that means you're booked to play ArcTanGent! :)

[@BusyCLMusic]

Loved the bass rendition of Overjoyed at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="735">12:15</a>. :D

[@Nyitemare]

That octave tone IS killer