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How to practice with the metronome

From WayneConrad on 12/9/2017 12:04:38 PM

Practicing with the metronome helps with steady tempo and with playing at the tempo you want.  It may not be obvious how to use a metronome to improve your playing.  Here's a quick lesson on how to do it.

I don't know whether your metronome is a physical device, a phone, or a web site, but how to use one is pretty much the same no matter what it's made of.

Set your metronome to some speed. This is measured in "beats per minute" or "BPM".  Try 40 BPM, or 80 BPM.  The exact speed doesn't matter, because you are going to adjust the speed to what you can play at.  You will never play at a tempo that's too fast for you to play.  Instead, what you'll do is to find a comfortable speed to play at, where you can play without mistakes easily, and then speed the metronome up until you are a bit uncomfortable and having to push yourself to keep up.  But you'll never go so fast that you make lots of mistakes.

Now start your metronome. It should make a click for every beat.  Most folk tunes are in 4/4 time, so there'll be four beats per measure.  If you were to count the beats "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and", then the metronome will tick on 1, 2, 3, and 4, but not on the "ands." Depending on the metronome, it may make a different tick on the "1" to help you hear where the measure starts. 

Start playing. Listen to the metronome and your playing at the same time. You want each tick of the metronome to happen at the same time you are playing a beat. Slow the metronome down until you can keep up. Your first goal is not to go at full speed, but it is to play with the metronome at a steady tempo, whatever that tempo is.

Playing with a metronome is a learned skill, similar to being able to play in a group or play with a backing track, so if you don't get it at first, stick with it. Add "playing with the metronome" to your practice routine until you can easily play the same tempo as the metronome and "on the beat," so that you pick each beat at the same time the metronome ticks.

Once you can play at a steady tempo, increase the tempo by 5 or 10 BPM and play again. Don't go any faster until you can play at a steady tempo. If you start making repeated mistakes at the new tempo, slow it down right away and practice at a slower tempo some more. You don't want to practice mistakes, or they'll become ingrained and you'll have a heck of a time fixing them later. You want your increased tempo to push you a little so that you have to work to keep up, but not so much that you start practicing mistakes. Once you've got the metronome at a tempo that pushes you, stay at that tempo until you can play at that tempo comfortably.  Then speed up again.

When you get to the speed you want to perform at, continue to increase speed a little with your metronome practice. It's good to be able to play a little faster than you intend to. This will make playing at your performance speed very comfortable and easy.

4 Comments
	n1wr says: 12/9/2017 12:01:29 PM Wayne - you said "Most folk tunes are in 4/4 time, so there'll be one beat per measure. If you were to count the beats "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and", then the metronome will tick on 1, 2, 3, and 4, but not on the "ands." I think you meant four beats per measure...one beat per quarter note.
	WayneConrad says: 12/9/2017 12:05:28 PM @n1wr Fixed. Thanks!
	USAF PJ says: 12/10/2017 7:09:38 PM Tab/tune w/ Metronome?? Take a tune and set Metro. but if the #1 beat is not tied in at the right beat on the measure then am I correct in saying that timing is off?? Thanks for this post Wayne, as a result of TPG I have started using Metronome. Just want to be sure I am doing it right.
	WayneConrad says: 12/11/2017 8:58:37 AM @USAF PJ -- I usually wait until I know a tune without tab before I bring out the metronome. However, if a particular measure or passage is rhythmically complicated, I may practice just that section using the metronome before I know the whole tune. Once I can play the entire tune without using the tab anymore, then I may pull out the metronome and work on the overall tempo: Is it steady, and is it as fast as I want it to be? My metronomes can be set to make a different noise on the first beat of a measure. That helps me to detect when I've got the tempo wrong. All of a sudden I will notice that the different noise for the first beat is not aligned with my first beat, and I'll know that I somehow skipped or added a beat somewhere.
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