It's all about timing

Taken from http://www.metronomeonline.com/

Please click on the link and follow this excersize...It will make you a super musician

No matter if you play drums, piano, guitar, or any other musical instrument, timing has an enormous affect on how good you sound. Great timing will make even the poorest melodic idea shine, while weak timing will make a fantastic melody loose its appeal. Just like other aspects of musicality, timing is a skill that can be learned and improved. I would like to share with you a few concepts and exercises that will help you to develop a better understanding and control of timing.

In order to improve your timing, it is important to understand that every beat can be played in three different ways: before the beat, right on the beat, after the beat.

Each note you play relates to the beat. If you had the ability to recognize exactly where you are hitting the notes in regards to the beat you would then be able to improve your timing tremendously.

This following simple exercise will help you recognize your timing pattern. It is very simple, yet very effective. It was shown to me by Kenwood Dennard, a fantastic drummer, teacher and friend. If you want to get the most out of this exercise, you should record yourself and analyze the results.

1. Set your metronome to 60 BPM or use the online metronome link
   
2. Pick up your musical instrument
3. Play 60 short notes, try to hit each note
   exactly on the beat
4. Play back the recording and mark how many beats you hit exactly on the beat, how many before the beat and how many after the beat.

You will soon notice your tendencies. Some musicians tend to rush, when others tend to drag. The more you will focus on this simple exercise the better awareness to timing you will have and it will naturally be reflected in your playing. I recommend spending 5-10 minutes every day practicing this exercise.