Odd Meters

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

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QI just found your books on Amazon.com, which led me to this site. I'm a pianist (jazz, mainly) and have become fascinated with the rhythmic conceptions of people like Brad Mehldau, Larry Grenadier, Jorge Rossy and all the guys who are in Dave Holland's Prime Directive. Not only is their odd-meter playing incredibly fluid, but their playing in common-time is also amazing. I've been working with the metronome with some degree of improvement, but not a lot. Which of your books would I find most helpful in improving in these areas?
AI would recommend working with Rhythm series. I don't know your current level but most professional musicians in NYC find any of these books to be challenging. You should at least work through:

Rhythms Volume One
Rhythms Volume Two
Odd Meters
The Big Metronome

If you email me after you get the books I'll give you a practice regimen to bring your playing and rhythmic ability to a new level.
 
QI have made my mind and shall order the suggested books at your store. I have one little question:

I would also order your book A big Metronome for tempo training. Or is it better to start practicing with a metronome?

From the faq I read that the book A Big Metronome is more alike for intermediate to advanced students. If you have a simpler book verse for tempo training I really would have you recommend me this.
AIt's hard to say if A Big Metronome would be good for you because I don't know your exact level. I would though recommend that you work through the rhythm series before attempting the big metronome. To get an idea of what kind of rhythms are involved I suggest you download the examples found at:

http://www.arnoldjazz.com/workshop/index.html

You will see them listed as:

Eighth Note Rhythms (Rhythms Book One)

Sixteenth Note Rhythms (Rhythms Book Two)

Odd Meters (Odd Meters One)

These books will give you a solid foundation in all rhythms on 2 different metric levels plus introduce you to the complexity of Odd Meters. The muse-eek.com Web site also has midi files that you can use to play along with these books to check your accuracy. Rhythms Volume One also has some MP3 files with a swing feel. I think starting with these books would much more beneficial and give you a solid background before moving into the time studies in A Big Metronome.