I finally got around to using BIAB to test my holding time on one song by muting all instruments at bar #1. It ran for 5 choruses (melody, rhythm guitar, solo, comp guitar, melody). I finished 2 bars early. That was better than I expected actually except the count was probably at a natural speed for myself. I will have to get around to testing myself at slower and faster speeds to see if I gravitate to my natural speed which I gather is my heart rate. BIAB is a great way for anyone including drummers to test themselves to see if they need to work on keeping steady time.

There are actually two band skills here.
1/ Keeping time without a drummer while playing with other instruments.
2/ Listening to a drummer, clicker or anything with good time. Some students speed up past a metronome because they are struggling with new techniques.

An interesting question comes up too. If there is no drummer who should you listen too for keeping good time? The bass player or the person with the best time? I guess the bass player is the next one in line after the drummer who should be either testing their time with BIAB or using BIAB ear piece click tracks such as rhythm guitar (maybe an MP3 player driven ear piece to avoid lugging a computer). But what about guitar duets or solo. I guess the answer ends up becoming all rhythm section players should be testing themselves or using a click track where appropriate.

Last edited by bowlesj; 09/27/18 04:48 AM.
John Bowles
My playing in my 20s:
https://www.reverbnation.com/johnbowles