Getting the rhythm and timing correct is really important, no matter what style or genre of music you are interested in playing. Even though it can be quite hard for some to master (or at least it was hard for me to master when I was the piano student), it is important to work at it because it really does make a huge difference with your music.
The first way it makes a difference is that it keeps the music moving – it is almost like the driving force of the music. If there was no rhythm or timing to what you are playing, then all of it would sound random and free flowing. Sure, some music is meant to sound this way, but for most music, it is not. For many pieces of music, without rhythm and timing, a lot of pieces of music would probably sound uninteresting and bland – as I write this I’m thinking of the theme to ‘Chariots of Fire’ and going back a few decades earlier, Glenn Miller’s ‘In the Mood’. Could you imagine how awful they would be without timing and rhythm?
Timing and rhythm is necessary for any piece of music is absolutely essential for it to be able to be danced to – any sort of dance that you can think of. It is the rhythm and timing that makes music dance-able.
Rhythm and timing is also essential for two or more instruments to play together at the same time and this of course, includes the voice. Think about what it would be like to have just two people playing music together, with their own individual rhythm or timing – it would not work at all. It is the rhythm and the timing that allows instruments, including the voice, to play and make music together.
So far, I have talked about the main reasons why having rhythm and timing is such an important part of music and for most people, this is probably really obvious. However, there is one aspect of having a good sense of rhythm and timing that is not really talked about, but can really be helpful, especially to music students. Having a good sense of rhythm and timing can help cover up mistakes.
Having a good sense of rhythm and timing can help cover mistakes because often when music students of any instrument make a mistake with a wrong note or chord, they tend to either slow down, pause or even stop entirely, which only serves to highlight a mistake. If you accidentally play one wrong note, but can keep the rhythm and timing going, no-one would ever notice the mistake – they would think that the ‘off’ sounding note would be deliberate and therefore not a mistake at all.
I have never heard it said in such blunt terms but I believe that when people are playing a musical instrument in front of others, they are not listening for mistakes, they are enjoying the music and if you can keep a good sense of rhythm and timing going, no-one will ever be the wiser if you make the odd mistake or two.