A strong, reliable sense of rhythm and timing is essential to any music-making endeavour. In fact, a steady tempo is one of the easiest ways to tell an amateur from a professional. Even as an audience, our ability to feel the beat while listening to music is subtle but extremely powerful. So much so that any deviations from the rhythm are immediately noticed and can give the audience an uneasy feeling that things aren’t quite right. For this reason, developing a strong sense of musical timing is extremely important to become a successful musician.

There’s a long-standing myth that you either have rhythm and timing, or you don’t. Those who do can sing, dance, and play music, while those who don’t are forced to awkwardly stand with their backs against the wall, simply listening. But to quote a Gorillaz song, “Rhythm, you have it or you don’t, that’s a fallacy.”

A sense of musical timing is not something only those “born“ with it can do. Anyone can develop their sense of timing with just a little effort. So, this week, we will look at five easy ways to improve your sense of rhythm and timing every day to improve your music.

1. Start With a Recording

The very first thing you should do when you decide to work on your timing is record yourself playing an entire song, beginning to end. This will give you an honest assessment of where your timing is now. If you listen carefully, you should be able to hear the parts where you’re slowing down or speeding up. Listen closely for each place you made a mistake with the tempo.

There might be a lot of places where you’re not keeping time as you should. That’s okay! This is only the beginning, and if you follow the rest of the tips in this list, you’ll quickly improve. Don’t beat yourself up if your recording is full of mistakes. Keep it around for motivation to improve.

2. Play With a Drum Machine App

Do this as often as possible, every time you practice, if you can manage it. While this is essentially the same as playing with a metronome to keep you on time, it’s more engaging. Drum apps usually offer a more entertaining, complete drum-set backbeat to play over. For an added experience, if you can plug your phone into a stereo, your drum app will have a much fuller and louder sound. With a decent stereo, it’s like you’re playing with a real drummer!

That being said, some beginner students might find a drum app too distracting. It’s okay to use a simple metronome if you prefer. Metronomes, since they are stripped-down versions of the tempo with no real distractions, can also train you in timing in a very “clean“ way.

3. Drum While Listening

When you listen to music, be it on the train, in the office, or at work, start drumming to the beat. Drum on your legs, click your tongue or snap your fingers. Whatever you do, count 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4… when you do it. The more you do this, the more you’ll notice when you’re dragging or rushing the tempo. The more you practice with your listening music, the more you’ll find yourself drumming precisely on the beat. You can transfer 100% of this skill into your music-making, and you should see an immediate result!

4. Tap Along While Playing

You’ve probably noticed that most musicians bob their foot up and down in time with the music as they play. This is one of the oldest and most effective ways to stay on time. Many websites and articles that suggest this technique tend to focus only on guitar players, but any instrument that doesn’t have foot pedals (and even some that do) can benefit from this practice.

Some find it easier to do from a standing position, and if your foot gets tired, it’s okay to switch to the other. And if you want to add even more fun and play two instruments at once, you can use a foot tambourine! Exactly like it sounds, a foot tambourine is a small, half-tambourine that straps over the toe of your shoe. As you tap along to the beat, it jangles. It’s a fun and challenging way to ensure you stay in rhythm because you’ll be able to hear every stray beat.

5. Learn to Identify Different Time Signatures.

The most common time signature you’ll come across, especially as a new student, is 4/4. But it’s far from the only one. There’s also 2/4, ¾, 6/8, 7/8, 12/8, and many more. Most popular music is fairly simple and conforms to the basic 4/4 time signature, but many do not.

One easily recognizable example of an odd time signature is the Mission: Impossible theme song. With a classic Latin groove, the iconic theme is a perfect example of 5/4.

Burt Bacharach and Dionne Warwick’s “I Say a Little Prayer“ uses three different time signatures: 10/4, 11/4, and the much more common 4/4.

Rock is no stranger to unusual time signatures, either. Led Zepplin’s “Kashmir“ features a 4/4 time signature for the drums, but everything else is in ¾. And to confuse matters more, there’s one measure that’s 9/8.

Listen to this list of songs with odd time signatures. Count the beats and see if you can determine each song’s unique time signature.

Bonus – When Jamming, Remember to Keep YOUR Beat

It’s important to remember that when you’re playing with a group of people, you need to get used to playing on your own count, not anyone else’s. Keep the beat in your head, independent of what your bandmates do. Even if your drummer slows down or your singer starts speeding up, don’t get caught up in their error. Keep following along to your inner beat; everyone will eventually fall back into the proper rhythm and tempo.

Looking for a bad to jam with? Check out The Music Studio’s ensembles for kids, teens and adults, and sign up today.