I have to remind myself sometimes that technology advancing has played a huge role in changing the way we think, behave and perceive things.

Sometimes conversations steer towards that reminder and today, I remembered that humans aren’t naturally designed to play on the grid musically speaking.

By that, I mean rudimentary performing something at a precise tempo, say 127bpm for example.

But we have metronomes that allow us to train ourselves to do that and furthermore, we have music technology that can align and quantise everything with pinpoint accuracy.

There is something to be said for the amazing science behind this and the results it can create but there’s also a noticeable lack of the sincerity that’s created by unexpected fluctuations in tempo, or the adrenaline pumping a desire to play something casters. These are organic things as a result of being human in our performance.

Sometimes, I say to my students to learn to play with a click for accuracy but also learn to play with it so you can play without it.

It’s better to commit the time to translating the performance in a way that elicits human connection than concerning oneself with a precise tempo marking.