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Keeping in time with backing track

Lesley

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Shelley Beach South Africa
Hello to most sax beginners. On practicing with a backing track I find myself losing time yet if I play the piece without the bt I'm ok. It doesn't happen with all my piece's. Very frustrating...grrrrr!
 
How do you know you are not losing time without the backing track?

Jx
 
I'm not following. how do you konw if you're holding solid time without backing (or a metronome) as a frame of reference? It's worth thinking about how you actually listen to a backing track if you find this a problem.. try blocking out everything except the 'pulse' of the music
 
This sounds a bit odd, but it is quite common for beginning players (and some more advanced ones) to have difficulty playing and listening at the same time. It has to do with having to think about so many things while playing such as tone production, tonguing, notes and fingerings, counting rhythms, etc. that it is hard to focus on one more thing which is listening to the backing track or accompaniment. Some suggestions that might help:
  • Listen to the backing track while just following along in the music.
  • Listen to the backing track while singing your part.
  • Listen to the backing track while you sing and finger the notes on the saxophone.
  • Listen to the backing track while playing softly.
 
This sounds a bit odd, but it is quite common for beginning players (and some more advanced ones) to have difficulty playing and listening at the same time. It has to do with having to think about so many things while playing such as tone production, tonguing, notes and fingerings, counting rhythms, etc. that it is hard to focus on one more thing which is listening to the backing track or accompaniment. Some suggestions that might help:
  • Listen to the backing track while just following along in the music.
  • Listen to the backing track while singing your part.
  • Listen to the backing track while you sing and finger the notes on the saxophone.
  • Listen to the backing track while playing softly.
Thankyou. I do all that but you quite right about trying to concentrate on all the other issues. And of course the practice. I should have stuck with the recorder! A bit of useless info....young musician of the year 2014 won on recorder.
 
Thankyou. I do all that but you quite right about trying to concentrate on all the other issues. And of course the practice. I should have stuck with the recorder! A bit of useless info....young musician of the year 2014 won on recorder.
Just keep working at it and you will eventually get it. It takes time to get comfortable enough on your instrument so that you can actively listen to other parts and internalize the beat. Till then if you have to play in public, find a good accompanist who follows well. :)
 
Just keep working at it and you will eventually get it. It takes time to get comfortable enough on your instrument so that you can actively listen to other parts and internalize the beat. Till then if you have to play in public, find a good accompanist who follows well. :)
I will do thankyou Jbt
 
Hi Lesley, from another beginner (been playing 8 months).

I think it is a case of too many things to think about at the same time, I really struggled at first. What I found really helpful is to use playalongs which come with a full performance and a minus one track as well. That way you can play along with the full track first until you get the hang of the timing and are starting to get familiar with the piece and then try with the minus one track. You can always go back to the full track for a bit longer if you hit problems.

Even once you can play with the minus one track its useful to pop back to the full track occasionally to check you haven't strayed off. I found this very useful when learning my exam pieces.
 
Hi Lesley, from another beginner (been playing 8 months).

I think it is a case of too many things to think about at the same time, I really struggled at first. What I found really helpful is to use playalongs which come with a full performance and a minus one track as well. That way you can play along with the full track first until you get the hang of the timing and are starting to get familiar with the piece and then try with the minus one track. You can always go back to the full track for a bit longer if you hit problems.

Even once you can play with the minus one track its useful to pop back to the full track occasionally to check you haven't strayed off. I found this very useful when learning my exam pieces.
Good morning Kerry thanks for your advice. I have been practicing in that manner but I'm thrilled to hear others do so as well. You being a professional after only 8 months to my 2 weeks has inspired me greatly. All the best for your musical road ahead, and.....never give up!
 
Thread moved to correct forum.
 
Good morning Kerry thanks for your advice. I have been practicing in that manner but I'm thrilled to hear others do so as well. You being a professional after only 8 months to my 2 weeks has inspired me greatly. All the best for your musical road ahead, and.....never give up!

And all the best to you too! At only 2 weeks in you still have an awful lot to think about, just keep going and soon some of those elements will go on auto-pilot so you can concentrate more on other aspects. Glad to hear you're using the full tracks and doing everything JBT suggested too. Some backing tracks are a lot harder to follow than others, keep working at it and you will get there.
Playing along with backing tracks was totally alien to me at the start, I'm finding it comes much more naturally now and I only need to listen to or play with the full track once or twice IF there is one. You're doing really well for the limited time you've been playing, try not to expect too much from yourself and enjoy it.
 

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