At the Gig with Your Metronome

I played a big band gig last night that was lots of fun. It was my first time with this band and there were no rehearsals. I sight read the entire gig. There was a set list with not only the names of the tunes (and their corresponding numbers in the book), but also with the feel and tempo notated as well. Wow! This was really helpful.

I could quickly look at the set list and see a few important things immediately:

(1) I would check to make sure that I had pulled the correct tune and in the correct order of that set. (I pulled all of the tunes for each set before the beginning of the set.)

(2) Since the feel of tune was notated on the set list, I could quickly relate to the tune. (The “feel” of the tune tells the drummer the style: swing; Mambo; Cha Cha Cha; rock ballad; Bossa Nova; waltz (3/4); Samba, etc.)

(3) Having the metronome marking on the set list was great! Again, I could look in one place and see so much information that helped me. The metronome was sitting on the music stand. After a tune would end, I would set that music down quickly and then reset the tempo on the metronome for the next tune. I would listen to the click at the new tempo while getting the next chart ready on my music stand. This was all happening while the introduction to the next song was happening. I could then look at the music (quickly) and try to be aware of any tricky spots.

Even though I had never played with this band before, I had many comments about how the tempo was perfect for the songs. I think this is because I really tried to keep the tempo where I counted it off. Oh yeah – I was counting the tunes, too. This is something that drummers usually do – even when they subbing (the sub). Keeping the tempo steady with a 10-piece band can be challenging. I find that because I like to practice with a metronome, playing without one does not present an issue. On the contrary, it’s because of the practicing with it that my time is good without it. I have worked hard on internalizing the pulse. This skill certainly came in handy last night.