Making Music, how do you do it? Options

[tacoboy]

There seems to be a lot of o topics about the technical side of music production. I'd like to know more about the methods.

What effects has it had on your life and way of thinking?

How did you start out?

How have you progressed and where you would like to see yourself in the future?

[alimaamoser]

This friend of mine, who's a guitarist, has a bit of problem with his sense of time. As a drummer, I told him to practice with a metronome, as I know it'll help him greatly. He doesn't like the idea and refuses.

He also reluctant to learn basic musical theory, as he thinks it's complicated and unnecessary.

How do I convince him to practice with a metronome and study musical theory? IMO, these are elementary things that ALL musicians should understand. He also 'worships' John Mayer and plays the blues.

[Berhu N°2]

This friend of mine, who's a guitarist, has a bit of problem with his sense of time. As a drummer, I told him to practice with a metronome, as I know it'll help him greatly. He doesn't like the idea and refuses.

He also reluctant to learn basic musical theory, as he thinks it's complicated and unnecessary.

How do I convince him to practice with a metronome and study musical theory? IMO, these are elementary things that ALL musicians should understand. He also 'worships' John Mayer and plays the blues.

Hello

Rule of thumb: we never learn anything untill we are aware we need to, so people can't convice us if we are deaf or blind to reality.

Here, i suggest you record you and your friend playing, or your friend and a metronome, make him hear, and try to know what he thinks of what he heard. Maybe he won't notice anything, so he's not ready to learn , so wait till he asks.
More sophisticated: compose a tune, record drum & bass & keyboards with your sequencer on you computer, quantize all or most of it, and have him play one or two parts (and sweat to record a clean track). Afterwards you can move his tracks to make him hear how it would sound if it were played more "in place" with the beat.
Most of us are reluctant to play on a metronome or electronic drum because machines' lack in feeling. Actually whatever a machine plays, we bring the feeling. The most commun trick is "play on a cowbell, and make that cowbell sound groovy". It is really joyfull when we succeed in doing that. You can share that key info. In fact, all musicians around the world need to respect a regular beat, because it is the immemorial link with the dance. Subtelties that happens inside the beat is specific to local or historical culture, it has to be dealt with later, don't worry yet.
Another very efficient method is to practice the same line or pattern or groove at 4, 5... 10 different tempi, faster, then back slower. (For instance add 5 to 10 - or 15 if you are impatient - points to the tempo until it's really unplayable, then decrease down to 60 or even 50)
That's for rhythm.

About theory, which is not needed to produce the magic of music, it is needed when it's time to organize the knowledge we accumulated through the years. So same thing, if curiosity is aroused, you friend will be asking by himself on time. Just talk about it slighty.

But, alas, the best way to understand that we don't play properly - and so that we have to practice with one method or other - is unfortunately when people stop playing with us 'cause we don't make any progress . Music is a collective art. Easy to get kicked & banned when we are not up to it.

Hope this helps.

[d3i]