The Importance of Timing
One of the most important attributes of any great singer or instrumentalist is great timing. This means they have developed the ability to begin and end a note or phrase at precisely the right moment and to fit their singing in with the accompaniment for maximum musical and dramatic effect.
There are two good ways to develop your timing. One is to read rhythms from written music in time with a metronome or drum machine and the other is to have someone else play or sing rhythms and then copy them by ear.
Some Rap singers are able to improvise incredibly complex and dramatic rhythms on the spot. This is called "freestyling". Even though these singers use complex rhythms, they all had to start with the same simple note values you are learning here.
It is also important to remember that all music regardless of style uses the same note values. The notes are just put together in different ways to create different sounds.
Listen to the following example which first begins with a guitar, and then a voice in each of the short phrases. Following these, each example is repeated with the guitar playing the phrase and then a space is left for you to reproduce it with your voice.
All the examples are in * time. To help keep time as you do this exercise, tap your foot in * time and remember to keep track of the beginning of each bar.
