Having doubted the validity of using metronomes, I invited people to dispense with comments either pro or con and simply contribute names of players they believed to have used a metronome to help them to develop their sense of time. Here is the list that was contributed from Facebook in a twelve hour period. Steve Bailey, Carole Kaye, Edgar Meyer, Billy Sheehan, Kai Eckhart, Victor Wooten, Jeff Andrews, Anthony Wellington, Todd Johnson, Gary Willis, Damian Erskine, Ed Friedland, John Pattitucci, Ron Carter, Victor Bailey, Stanley Clarke, Nathan East, John Clayton, Eddie Gomez, Dominique di Piazza, Pino Paladino, Janek Gwizdala, Ben Wolfe, John Myung, Niels Henning Orsted Pederson, Matt Garrison, Brian Bromberg, Tom Kennedy, Steve Swallow, Jeff Andrews, Lincoln Goines, Tony Grey, Reggie Hamilton, Michael Manring, Steve Lawson, Lee Sklar. Thirty five names of top bass players were provided by Facebook members as players that are thought to have acquired a better sense of time by practicing with a metronome during their formative years. I would certainly agree that there are other names have been overlooked. I named 85 bassists that I never heard mentioning that a metronome had an effect on their sense of time at all. My list is an indicator as well! James Jamerson, John Entwistle, Larry Graham, Chris Squire, Charles Mingus, Paul Chambers, Jaco Pastorius, Jack Bruce, Geddy Lee, Tony Levin, Paul McCartney, Ron Carter, Dave Holland, Paul McCartney, Ray Brown, Charlie Haden, Louis Johnson, Anthony Jackson, Chuck Israels, Flea, Jerry Scheff (Elvis), Les Claypool, George Duvivier, Neils Henning Orsted Pederson, Scott Lafaro, Ron Wood (as a bassist), Milt Hinton, Paul Jackson, Geezer Butler, Rocco Prestia, John Paul Jones, Miroslav Vitous, Slam Stewart, Cecil McBee, Donald “Duck” Dunn, Phil Lesh, Phil Lynott, Robert Trujillo, Bill Wyman, Steve Harris, Jack Casady, Steve Rodby, Gary Peacock, Eberhard Weber, Jimmy Garrison, Alain Caron, Jimmy Blanton, Cliff Burton, John Deacon, Christian McBride, Richard Bona, Richard Davis, Larry Grenadier, Neil Jason, Ashton Barrett, Verdine White, Reggie Workman, Monk Montgomery, Robert “Kool” Bell, Dennis Irwin, Jamaladeen Tacuma, John Burr, Oscar Pettiford, Bob Crenshaw, George Mraz, Sam Jones, Joe Osbourne, Wilbur Ware, Buster Williams, Bootsy Collins, Greg Lake, John Wetton, Tim Bogert, Bernard Odum, Will Lee, Palle Danielson, Red Callender, Jerry Jermott, Willie Weeks, Roger Glover, Neil Stubenhaus, Percy Heath, Red Mitchell, Tom Hamilton. Because we can discuss this forever, I thought of a way to simply show some circumstancial evidence to indicate that most professional bass players did not acquire their sense of time from a metronome. I personally believe that none of them did, but thats me! I wanted people that believed in metronomes to show precedence in the bass world by naming players that used and believed in it. I simply offered another list to the contrary, a list that I could expand on greatly. Do with these as you wish! Correct any names as you wish. I simply remind you that you are basing a large portion of your careers and musical development on what you do with this information. People dont like to change their minds, even when the indicators point toward another direction. But, I gave it my best shot so that people could think about this a little bit. Finally, I want to mention something that most educators and most players are not aware of. Playing out of time is mandatory when learning. It exists as a way to regard new information and learn it. Metronome players wont get this experience because playing in time (groove) is the new mandate in music education. Think about it because I promise you that many learning musicians are losing an important chance to grow as players by not being allowed to experience music by counting, subdividing, and practicing slowly and out of time. That’s it for me! I am off to Europe for a month of concerts then back to America to record. I am flying in the morning and have no wish to comment about this anymore here.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 04:09:34 +0000
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