There is a seemingly endless debate about practicing "time". Some people use the metronome while others say, "no way that's too stiff." Others profess playing along with recordings. Still another group says, "good time is natural and you either got it or you don't."

I deal with students everyday whose abilities to play good time runs the gamut from "grooving" to "couldn't swing in a hammock." I have found that bad time is normally not an inability to play good time but rather one of distractions. The most common of these distractions is the lack of ability to execute the specific task. i.e. NO CHOPS! A close second in the hierarchy of distractions is simply not focusing.

You will perform the way you practice. So, do not allow yourself to play anything out of time. If you cannot play it with good time, SLOW IT DOWN until you can. If you can get in a groove while walking down the sidewalk, you can play the bass with good time. Just practice with good time.