3 Ways To Use A Metronome

A valid question. When backing tracks are so widely available, why should metronome practice be an option? Surely a drum loop or jam track elevates your timing just as effectively?

Whilst our goal is always to jam to music as much as possible, this playing scenario often doesn’t put your sense of rhythm under the microscope. Other instrumentation covers a multitude of timing sins, allowing you to drift out of sync undetected.

A metronome leaves your guitar playing exposed; your accuracy, time keeping and sense of pulse is scrutinised in a way only achieved by the use of a metronome. In short, the metronome never lies.

A broader question, perhaps, is why should we care so much about our timing? This is covered in another blog, but suffice to say it is better to be out of tune than out of time - timing is everything!

If you are taking a beating from a particularly speedy riff, lick or part, then the metronome is your saviour.

Firstly, set the metronome tempo at a speed to which you can comfortably play the part - not too slow that it is easy and not so fast that your accuracy goes to the wall.

Now, play in time with the metronome until things feel natural and effortless. The next step is to increase the bpm in steps; a fair increment is around 5bpm.

You will quickly reach your top tempo. So the next task is to push things - this time creep up by 1bpm increments. Once you get stuck, wind the metronome back a couple of notches and practice the part again.

This traditional method of developing your speed, whilst keeping every note at an even pace is hugely effective. However, many of us find that our top tempo can’t be trumped. Here is where a little creative metronome use comes in handy. Once you hit your peak speed, ramp the metronome up past your upper limit, 5 - 10bpm should do it. Now go for it! Attempt to still play accurately but give yourself permission to mess up. This is supposed to push you! Wind the metronome back to your previous peak speed, plus 1bpm. This, by comparison will feel easier and nudge that top speed one bpm further.

Developing a reliable internal pulse is the real game changer when it comes to solid timing, and there is no better leveller for this skill than empty space. It is the gaps between the beats in which our rhythm is tested.

The standard way to use of a metronome is to simply set each click as a beat - 1,2,3,4. At a moderate tempo this can become an all too comfortable crutch, so let’s shake things up a bit and see how good your timing is!

As an exercise, set you metronome slow - 40-60bpm. Now, instead of counting one beat per click, assign beats 1&3 to each click and count beats 2&4 yourself. Play along - riff out, improvise or perform a song. This becomes a real test of your internal timing and your ability to create rhythm without the safe reminder of every beat.

Repeat the exercise, but this time count the clicks as beats 2&4 (this is where the groove lives!). Want a real challenge? Drop the bpm right down and count each click as beat 1. You will be amazed at how many times you miss that first beat or the bar!

Everything we play can be said to fall within a rhythmic ‘grid’. Developing your awareness and instinctual feeling of 1,2,3 & 4 notes per beat (1/4, 1/8, triplet and 1/16 notes) is absolutely key to your growth as a good and consistent guitarist.

This is a vital skill when it comes to improvisation - slathering our licks and runs over the top of the music can sound unfettered and cool as an effect, but without that reliable sense of rhythmic subdivision, things can swiftly sound like they simply don’t ‘fit’.

This exercise leaves speed development at the door, so your first task is to set your metronome at a very comfortable tempo, to which you will be able to play 4 notes per beat with ease (the purpose is to develop awareness here, rather than all out speed!). Now, improvise in a familiar key, scale or register, strictly using 1/4 notes only - 1 note per beat. Do this until things feel natural and you are no longer counting. Now increase to 2 notes per beat (1/8 notes), then 3 and finally 4 notes per beat.

In reality you are not going to treat your listeners to a solo constructed solely of stock 1/8 and 1/16 notes, but a natural feel for these subdivisions will allow you to play in and out of this grid. Remaining tethered to a reliable subdivision affords you the freedom to be rhythmically creative and playful whilst maintaining a reliable pulse.