I was thinking about something someone once told me.
“Pitch is Rhythm.”
Huh?
When I sing or play a note, it does not sound like a beat.
When I play a beat it does not sound like a note.
But in actuality – they are the same thing. Let’s take a look at this…
An “A 440” is simply a very fast rhythm. Scientifically speaking we are hearing a wave at 440 cycles per second.
When we hear something beating at 440 cycles per second, it sounds like a “pitch” but it’s just a fast rhythm. We even refer to it as a “frequency” – think about the word!
Consider a motorcycle or lawn mower engine when it starts. It sounds like deep clicks, and when it speeds up – it sounds like a pitch.
Here is a video someone made of a metronome starting at 90 beats per minute, which speeds up to 100,000 BPM.
[ Aw shucks, the video showing this was removed from youtube…I’ll look for another]
So, as you can see – there’s no difference between pitch and rhythm. It would be like saying ice, water and steam are different.
As rhythms slow down, we have days, weeks, months, years, centuries, millennia, planetary rhythms and who knows what else. As they speed up and get faster – they become inaudible, and probably turn into magnetism, light and all that quirky stuff.
So when we talk about music – remember that what we can hear as humans is one small “sliver” of the spectrum of all vibration. We call it upper frequencies, registers, middle, bass, on down to extremely fast tempos, on down to sub frequencies.
What About Human Musical Expression and Soul?
If you were to hear a great singer or instrumentalist, the ever-so-slight bending of pitches is what adds expression and soul.
Imagine your favorite song or instrumental solo…I think of something like Sarah Vaughan singing “Misty”, Bonnie Raitt singing “I Can’t Make You Love Me” or Stevie Wonder singing “My Cherie Amour.”
When an accomplished musician expresses melody and music – there is very deep communication happening. There’s all kinds of subconscious mathematics, decision making and intuition going on.
There is a feeling “love” in this expressiveness when it’s done by an accomplished musician.
I can remember at age 12 – bending a string on the electric guitar and my eyes filing with tears, and my body feeling spiritual energy running through it as I played “the blues”. That’s soul. We may express it differently, through different musical styles but we all have it.
However – it must be practiced, just like a basketball player practicing a jump shot.
What About Metronomes and Auto Tune? Do they Convey “Soul”?
If rhythm is pitch, and we agree that a heartfelt musical performance should have this swim in the pitch to be expressive – then why on earth would we treat rhythm differently.
Rhythm should have the same expressiveness that melodic expressiveness does.
A metronome prevents this expression from happening. It “stops” the soul from coming through.
A metronome is as soulless as “auto tune.” Imagine auto-tuning your favorite vocal performance or guitar solo. It would take the life right out of it!
Metronomes, sequencers and auto tune in the hands of a musician or producer like Quincy Jones can be a great tool and add to his expression – but that’s only because he “knows the vibration” that music should have.
The tools would filter through his musical good sense – and that’s how he would find just the right settings – to light up his listeners souls!
Ever heard a Bach piano piece sequenced on a synthesizer? It’s downright zombie-esque and creepy IMHO.
In the hands of 99% of today’s so called “producers” and young musicians – metronomes, auto tune and sequencers allow many talentless people to “get in the music game” when they haven’t really dealt with the depth of musical expression themselves on the “source” level.
Much of today’s music is “technically” but not “spiritually” correct.
Just turn on the radio if you don’t know what I am talking about. Chances are you will hear a song with perfect tuning and perfect rhythm – and you’ll never want to hear it again.
What do Audiences What From You?
Audiences don’t want to hear “perfect time.” They want to groove after a hard day.
They don’t want to hear computers play 440. They want to hear notes sung or played – filled with soul.
Why not try this – allow your rhythm to “swim”. Throw your metronome away.
Strive for perfect time on your own with no metronome. That’s like bending a guitar string right to the point that your soul lights up – but do this with your sense of “time.” Feel your way.
Feeling the time is same expression as bending that guitar string “just right” and “tasty”.
Why? Because pitch is rhythm, and rhythm is pitch.
You are articulating words that my soul tries to speak each day. I play in a band where the guitarist and vocalist have commanded the drummer to ALWAYS play with a metronome because some pro told them it’s a good idea. Ever since then I’ve had a hard time connecting with the music in the band. My heartbeat does not beat at a fixed bpm. This is proof that I’m not a robot and that my soul was not designed to respond be commanded by a digital device.
Great post, but here’s a question for you: I recently purchased Mike Longo’s first DVD. In it he said: “You don’t put feeling into music, you get feeling from music.” Raised eyebrows from me.
Also I saw a video on YouTube by pianist Hal Galper where he told a student not to get “emotionally involved” with the rhythm section. Not completely sure that he meant the same thing, but a similar statement.
I’m still trying to decide what those statements really mean and if they jibe with my way of thinking about performing. I used to feel that there was an element of “method acting” to playing music – that I really needed to emotionally embody the feelings I wanted the audience to get from the music. Now I’m wondering if that approach really has any validity.
Any thoughts on this?
John – think of feeling as a flavor. You don’t “put” flavor into food. You have a recipe (knowlegde) and when you utilize the knowledge, people experience a flavor (feeling). Mike’s statement is very deep and very true – to me. You may end up playing intuitively – but knowledge is what’s going to make you be able to replicate what you do.
Knowledge of counterpoint for example, and techniques allowed Bach to write Fugues over and over, even when he wasn’t “feeling it.”
Mike’s knowledge of rhythm is insane, innovative and insightful. Most people attribute groove to feelings, visions and even race. He blows it out of the water with his knowledge.
His mantra at all my lessons when he gave me insights was “there’s feelings, and there’s knowledge. This is knowledge!”
The rub is this – when you play you also “feel” what you do – like a chef tasting his own creation. Mind you, the feeling comes AFTER you create – not before.
If you teach a young kid to play blues do you tell him to “feel it” or do you show him a fingering to learn, that he will be able to “feel” after mastering it?
The video link says “Private” ?
Sometimes youtube videos change status….if they are not mine! Sorry.
I actually teach young People in playing Guitar!
I think a Metronome can help them to get more ideas in playing
Rythms.but a agree with you! When People learnt to play exactly in Metronome times , they should trow the metronome away!
I am writing songs, as i learn chord changes. This i do is inline with you. My church gives me Alit of music. These pieces of notes/rythum
Are not rehersed enough.
Great reply Adam. THANK YOU! I kind of thought that was what Mike was getting at and it makes total sense. Yes, his words do ring deep and true to me as well. I can already tell that Mike’s ideas are going to be the source of several epiphanies for me.
Also, I use the recipe analogy all the time with students – so your illustration perfectly fits the way I already approach learning and teaching music!
Thanks a bunch for sharing this with all of us you actually know what you’re talking about! Bookmarked. Please also visit my web site =). We could have a link exchange contract between us!
Metronomes are not the enemy, they are your friend. Gaining a greater sense of time, groove, pulse and ultimately funkiness can be gained from regular practice with a metronome. People feel the groove differently, people swing differently. Developing strong internal time with the aid of practicing with a metronome will allow the musician to be flexible in many playing situations and adapt to many people’s groove nuances. I firmly believe the best musicians have the best time (rhythm, groove, whatever you want to call it) and are able to bend, shape and sculpt it to achieve desired effects. This comes from being able to lock down a groove solidly. Sure, when you’re playing solo there is no reference to “keep you in time” so you can be as expressive as you want. The greatest solo players have unbelievable time. (Oscar Peterson anyone?) How do they develop that? By playing alot in a groove, or practicing with a pulse, like a metronome. Time moves in ensembles for sure, it is organic, as it should be. But sloppy time is unforgivable in any situation. Sloppy time separates ok players from great players. More focus on playing with good time peoples. It’s the most important thing. Knowing how to push and pull in an ensemble is important, as is being solid as a rock and nailing the groove. The best gigs are the ones with people that have the best time, not the fastest licks. Metronomes are your friend.
Did ancient African drummers learn from metronomes? If they didn’t need them, why do we?
Adam, you have really good time and I’m sure you’ve worked with metronomes. My timing sometimes strays after a while. When I practice, I want that metronome or backing track to to let me know where I was supposed to be. I treat it long distance marker – if I hit the one after 8 times around, then I know I’m doing okay. If I’m a bit ahead or behind the beat it means I’ve got work to do. While I don’t take my metronome to a jam, I wouldn’t throw it away. It’s a powerful diagnostic tool.
No, ancient african drummers didn’t have metronomes. They also had strong pulse ingrained into every fibre of their being from as early as being in the womb. So, no artificial object counting time, but skilled drummers instilling solid, immoveable, unwavering pulse and time. If you play with a great percussionist, they’ll be able to bend to your sloppy time; but they’ll also be able to lay it down and be the reference point for the pulse, because their sense of time is so strong. So, unless you’ve been born into an African drumming tribe and have played drums since being in nappies; practice with a metronome or a drum machine or WHATEVER as well as doing lots of gigs playing with people who have really great time.
In any ensemble (even 2) you must have a common reference, a drummer or a metronome, so as not to wander off from each other’s tempo. But no one says you have to play precisely on that beat for every beat, just in the long run. You’ll hear great musicians and bands play a solo part or “diversion” deliberately playing with the rhythm, or even the pitch. You know they’re great musicians when, at the end of the solo, they all come together on precisely the same beat and pitch as when it started.
If you play a metronome as an instrument, there is no soul and no groove, but it it’s guiding you in playing your groove, your soul, it’s just a very useful reference point.
Hi Adam – a really interesting piece. I started looking around for more information, and I found this, which might interest you….https://dantepfer.com/blog/?p=277
Yep, I have heard of this guy. Thank you!!!
I would push back on your claim that auto-tune and sequencing and metronomes are hallmarks of the “talentless.” By this standard, the only true talentful would be those who sing or play fretless instruments where tonation is not pre-packaged like, for example, piano. A piano is auto tuned, if you think about it. I would argue that the definition of musical ability has expanded widely with the expansion of technology. There are vastly different forms of music-making talent not all of which are tied to notions of intrinsic rhythmic ability or tune. Finding the right drum beat sequence for a track or the right melody takes talent even if you aren’t personally capable of creating that drum beat or melody. Jazz was deemed by the status quo music community (read: white elites) at one point in musical history as talentless noise but that has changed. I really dig your thought-provoking post here!
Greetings Adam,
I like to meditate before I play. What I’ve found is that when I’m mindful and focused, the music I play sounds more beautiful and soulful. This in turn causes me to play with greater beauty and soulfulness. Its like each event, listening and playing, feeds off of each other. That’s my experience. Thanks for the interesting articles.
Adam, you might be surprised to hear that the first part of your piece resonates brilliantly with advanced physicists. That was Einstein’s entire point, everything in creation relates to, and can be turned into, everything else. That’s why it’s called Relativity.
There it is; you’ve done it again Adam. Great observations !!!
Though you make most references about music that expresses “groove”, “funk”, or “blues”, this article reminded me of Muriel Anderson: who embodies none of those words. Nonetheless, she has such an expressive touch, with such subtlety in time, harmony and volume, that the music transcends mere sound. It is sensuous, meaning That it engages more than the sense of hearing, but reaches the senses of heart and soul.
In contrast, I’ve heard many examples of those from non-Western cultures who attempt to play western music. They may achieve technical perfection, but the rendition ranks along side of a midi file, as they were not immersed in the music from childhood. I’ve encountered the same shallowness of form when some try to imitate a genre that is not their home.
Always a pleasure to read your insights.
Rob