Developing a consistent and accurate internal sense of time is one of the most important areas of musicianship and should be a key objective for any bassist. Speaking from my own experience, I’m embarrassed to admit that that wasn’t always my perspective. I had a major paradigm shift when I finally realized that all the fast runs in the world won’t substitute for simple and solid grooving. Once I developed a passion for the groove, my focus shifted to refining (and calibrating, if you will) my internal sense of time.

The good news is that one doesn’t have to emerge from the womb with good time; it is something that can be developed with practice. There are a number of ways to go about developing this “internal clock”, and at the top of the list is spending time on a regular basis working in a focused manner with a real clock (metronome).

This is one of the crucial “eating your veggies” aspects of musicianship: it’s neither flashy nor particularly fun (at least not initially)...but is incredibly effective for taking your bass playing up to the next level. Consistent work with a metronome will reap huge dividends.

Please note that I’m not saying that metronome work is the exclusive means by which groove and internal time are established. Effective grooving usually does deviate from metronomic time (to varying degrees depending upon the genre). However, time spent working with a metronome provides a musician with a solid point of reference for rhythmic consistency from which to explore some of the less quantifiable and subjective areas of grooving.

In the following exercises (as with our previous lessons on rhythmic ear training), tap your foot on each downbeat or quarter note. The drum staff reflects slashes to coincide with the quarter notes. Get accustomed to internalizing this pulse while playing.

EXERCISE 1

Set your metronome to 90 beats per minute (bpm) and play through this exercise. Tap your foot with the click, which is playing quarter notes. Pay particular attention to make sure that your foot tapping remains consistently on the downbeats when playing through the upbeats in bar 4.

Note pitches aren’t important for this and the proceeding exercises; as a matter of fact, muting the strings with your fretting hand (so that the notes sound like thuds) better enables you to hear how well you’re playing with the click and to focus on rhythmic accuracy. Listen for any flams (instances when the click and your bass aren’t PRECISELY together - will sound like “bloom” vs. “boom”), and try to adjust your playing accordingly.

EXERCISE 2

Let’s play the same rhythmic pattern, but now incorporate different strings. In the interest of keeping this clear for both 4-string and extended range bassists, the exercise is reflected in 4-string-friendly format. However, extended range players can simply adapt it to their respective instruments by lengthening the exercise and using all strings (starting on the B string vs. E string, etc.).

 

EXERCISE 3

We’ll now add some string skipping. Ensure that time remains solid, regardless. It might be helpful to record yourself and listen back critically.

 

EXERCISE 4

Here’s a similar exercise that incorporates triplets and sixteenth notes.

 

Once you’re comfortable with each subdivision, practice mixing them up and alternating between them. As you do this, pay close attention to ensure that you’re not rushing or dragging the tempo - particularly during the first few beats of each new rhythmic pattern.

EXERCISE 5

Let’s add string skipping to Exercise 4. Again, if playing a 5-, 6- or 7-string bass, simply start on your B string and find a creative way to work through this string skipping pattern.

 

Other Metronome Practice Ideas

Here are a few of my favorites...

  1. This one’s from David Hungate (Toto, 1st-call Nashville session bassist): set your metronome to 40 bpm. Try to play staccato quarter notes between each click (the click will sound on beat 1 of each measure). It’s surprisingly tough...but this exercise is incredibly helpful (primarily because the metronome isn’t providing any subdivision, so you are reliant upon your own internal clock to keep time between each click). With practice, you’ll gradually be able to lock (play in sync) with the click sooner and sooner.

  2. Play a groove with the metronome clicks on beats 1 & 3 at a variety of tempos. Then (leaving the same metronome setting), hear the clicks as beats 2 & 4, and practice grooving with those clicks serving as the backbeat.

  3. Play David Hungate’s exercise with the metronome click on beat 2 only. Then go back & play with it on beat 3. Then beat 4. Isn’t it interesting how our perception of the feel is radically altered depending upon where we are hearing the click?

The preceding exercises were not intended to be executed once and “mastered”. Rather, I encourage you to use them as a springboard for your own daily woodshed regimen. Your rhythmic solidity will greatly benefit.