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Learning to Play with Others
The most important skill in music and my guitar journey has been mostly missing for most of my 22 1/2 years of playing guitar. That’s playing with others.
Yes, I have done it a handful of times, but not nearly enough for it to make any real difference in my musical ability and guitar skill.
But, I have some new toys that I bought over a year ago and have just recently taken them out of the box they were shipped in. (Why would anyone do that? Well, the obvious answer is fear, but beyond that… I don’t know?)
Anyway, one of those toys was a drum machine from Singular Sound called the Beat Buddy. There are a number of things that makes this drum machine different from any other drum machine. If you want to know about how the Beat Buddy is unique, you can look it up. I wanted to talk about my small win.
So, you just step on the pedal and there is one measure of intro fill and the first part starts. It’ll be awhile before I can step on the pedal again and hold it for a moment to get a transition measure into the second part of the song. But just the first part of syncing up to the drums starting and then playing with them for several minutes like what happens when you play a song with other players is challenging… but exciting. I’m really learning, finally, to play along with someone (or something) else leading the start and holding the rhythm. Yaaah!
MG 😀
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11 Replies
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Did you check out the skills courses? There is one for Jamming 101 and some jam along tracks
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You are right, @That_Guy . I knew there were jam along tracks and wanted to do it, but I never did and then forgot they were even there. Clear sign of big fear. I don’t know what else to say. I guess whatever it takes. I could have recorded Tony’s backing tracks with my DAW and played them back over Zoom during a VOM. But, I own the Beat Buddy now. Lots of ways to do things.
MG 😀
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Hey @MikeGaurnier just looked up the Beat Buddy. I just watched the demo and it looks amazing! I’m sure you are going to have a lot of fun with it. I am not anywhere near to that level. I’ll need something way more simple. I have a hard enough time following Tony sometimes. ha ha ha
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I’m not at that level either @Cadgirl , but this little toy can get me there.
MG 😀
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Making yourself do something that you’re not ready for is how you get there. Always try new things outside your skill level. If you only do things within your skill level you just go in circles.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by That_Guy.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by
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Little toys are great, they can add excitement to playing guitar 🎸. I’m glad you found a small win with your Beat Buddy! 👍
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Thank you @stevieblues . It’s true that new toys can add excitement to our guitar playing. It’s also true that new toys can distract us from guitar playing. Every new rabbit hole I’ve gone down since I joined TAC made me aware of that. I need to spread out the time I spend learning a new thing, whether it’s a DAW or a new mic or an AI, etc, etc, and make sure I am still spending time with the guitar every day.
MG 😀
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I think 2022 will be my Year of Guitar Gear. I am ready to become a one man band in the basement. I’ll check out best buddy.
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I am finding it is quite a large learning curve using the Beat Buddy, @albert_d , but you won’t regret it. I have been using it for less than a week, and I haven’t used it much, I have been putting in more time reading manuals (yes, there are 3 manuals for just this one piece of equipment) and watching videos, but the handful of times I’ve used it to play with, I have really loved it. I couldn’t recommend a better piece of equipment to become a one man band.
MG 😀
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Hey Mike – That Beat Buddy sounds great. Fear not (unless it talks back to you, then run). Have fun with it my friend!
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It is fun, as you’ll find out the next time we manage to get together. It is a cross between a live drummer and a metronome. I’ve simply never been able to use a metronome to the extent that I probably should have. But that’s at least partly due to the fact that it’s not easy. But this is fun enough to make the effort worthwhile.
MG 😀
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