Timing Meditation Workshop

Plan

Let’s start with you: What questions and challenges do you have with timing? We’ll tackle them together.

Here’s what we’ll cover and practice:

• Playing single notes with a metronome set at 60 BPM until it feels natural.
• Repeat the practice on more complex things.
• Returning to the body and breath to improve performance as well as enjoy the process more.

Do

Timing Meditation on Single Notes (60 BPM):

Metronome – 60 bpm

• Single Notes:
  • Bow: Focus on consistent sound and rhythm.
  • Pluck: Notice if this feels more challenging for you.
• Rhythms:
  • Hoedown rhythm
  • Short-long-short rhythm pattern
• Intervals:
  • D1-3: Bow and pluck, then add the short-long-short rhythm.
• Scales:
  • G Major Scale: Bow and pluck, then apply the short-long-short rhythm.

Timing Meditation on Tune Chunks

We’ll use the tune Lazy John as an example.

Bar 1:

• Learn: D0-1-3-A0.
• Loop: Repeat until it feels natural.
• Extract Rhythm: Practice the rhythm separately.
• Clap or Chant the Rhythm: Reinforce the rhythm with vocal or physical practice.

Bar 2:

• Learn: A0-1-0-D3-A1.
• Loop: Repeat and refine.
• Extract Rhythm: Isolate the rhythm and practice.
• Clap or Chant the Rhythm: Solidify the rhythm with clapping or chanting.

Repeat The Process 🔄

Repeat these steps on the other Chunks of the tune. Then do it for larger chunks until you can play the whole tune with a metronome.

Rhythm Trainer

60 bpm

Use a Rhythm Trainer, which alternates between beats and silence, challenging you to maintain the beat during the silent sections. This will help you instantly know if you’re staying on beat.

Foot Tapping Practice

Foot tapping while playing is an advanced skill. Follow these steps with a metronome (60 BPM):

• Tap your foot without playing.
• Play and foot-tap quarter notes on an open string.
• Foot-tap while playing simple rhythmic patterns on an open string.
• Foot-tap while playing intervals (D1-3).
• Foot-tap while playing a full scale.
• Foot-tap while playing pieces of a tune.
• Foot-tap while playing a whole tune.

Counting

Another timing practice is counting. If you end up playing classical music or other styles that have more rests in long notes, this will be very helpful. It’s a similar process to practicing foot tapping.

Count and clap 🔢 👏 

Keep the count steady at 1–2–3–4 as you clap. Using a metronome, start with quarter notes and then do more complex things:

• Quarter notes
• Eighth notes
• Hoedown
• Rhythm extracts (from tune chunks)

Count and Fiddle 🔢 🎻

Repeat the process with fiddling. Counting 1-2-3-4, play:

• Quarter notes
• Eighth notes
• Hoedown
• Scales
• Wide intervals (D3-A1)
• Tune chunks
• Whole tunes