I have a student who can't play in time with accompanying music. He is a bright lad who passed his grade 1 drum kit exam after a year of picking up the instrument and can play any piece of music placed in front of him (up to grade 2). He plays with confidence and fluidity and is keen on progressing through the grades. Due to his lack of ability to keep time his pass mark was low and we are both keen to improve his score next time.

I have tried everything to get him to keep time. Playing with a metronome as well as playing to a backing track. But after a few bars the timing goes. I keep trying different things to engage his time keeping ability but as yet nothing is working. It's not like he speeds up or slows down at random during the songs, he just goes off time and cannot get back on track.

Has anyone else come across this with their students and can anyone else suggest some new ideas for me to try?

Thanks

Playing a simple and constant one hand on the Hi Hat in time with the music leads to slipping of time. If he adds an accent to the beat on say, the first and third beat, his time keeping improves. But throw in further limbs and we get back to the slippage if his time keeping.

Could it simply be a matter of practice? Drumming in itself is a physical movement, so I don't know what would be gained from trying other physical movements. If he's able to keep time when accenting first and third beats, then he does have a sense of pulse, and the problem with added limbs may just be a coordination problem which needs practice to improve. The other thing that makes me think he might need to practise more is the fact that 'he can play anything placed in front of him'. Is it possible that because his sightreading is good, he's rarely getting past sightreading something? When learning a new piece, on any instrument, most people will know what they're aiming for, time-wise, in a new piece, but only with lots of practice will they be guaranteed to do it properly without holding up the pulse.

I agree. I would stick to working in four/four and just gradually add in one extra movement at a time with lots of time to get it right before any further complications. It might take a while, but I think he'll get it.

Alternatively try other exercises like tapping the pulse with his feet and trying a simple rhythm (or something more related to the kit) with his hands and vice/versa.

1. Metronome + Discipline + Practice
2. Occasionally recording to realize how bad an uneven tempo actually sounds
3. Experience playing in ensembles where you HAVE to keep time with the other musicians

I have a piano pupil (6) who doesn't have great timing. I found that tapping the piano in front of him worked marginally better than a metronome but best thing I found was to tap the piano stool he was sat on. This let him feel the beat really well and has helped enormously. Maybe that's worth a try?

All the above suggestions are helpful and worth trying.It is essential to deal with this kind of difficulty as early as possible in learning ; I have an adult pupil for piano who has never really played in time - a metronome seemed to be of no help. Latterly he has been playing more from memory and this has improved matters greatly - reading has obviously diverted too much of his attention away from listening to the sounds he 's making.

Accompanying/backing CDs are very useful when the student has thoroughly grasped the notes and can listen to the interaction with their part without being overburdened by technical considerations ; earlier than this they often hinder rather than help - a recorded accompaniment I often find difficult to play along with myself - just as I don't like singing with those disembodied ( no pun intended ) congregations that get 'piped' through for crematorium services !

Very good points. The metronome often makes life harder rather than easier! It is useful when the beat has been internalised in other ways, but not necessarily are a means to that end.

Also the point about reading; often building things up gradually is needed. Thinking about reading the notes, playing them on the instrument and staying properly in time can seem like an impossible task. Slow work on building these skills individually away from pieces is the best bet. Lots of singing and clapping etc!

How about listening to a pop/rock piece on headphones - I would have thought that most folk would end up nodding their head/tapping their foot in time to the music. It might even help him to play along to some such music instead of a metronome. Just an idea......

I created some music with Reason softwear and emailed it to him, with instructions to put this on his iPod and every time he walks to his girlfriends he has to concentrate on walking in time to it. I made 3 song one at 120bpm with the others being slightly either side of this. I will let you know what the outcome is and if it helped.