Metronome magic: master your picking, improve timing, and build up speed – one click at a time
Tick, tick, tick….
Be it a wind-up device or an app on your phone, a metronome is part and parcel of being a focused musician. Simply put, it keeps time at whatever tempo you set it to and then you interact with the regular clicking it provides. Tempo is usually shown in numbers (typically ranging from 40-208) which means how many beats per minute (usually referred to as bpm).
Physical wind-up metronomes have a percussive click that will continue for as long as the wind-up can provide (there are a maximum amount of turns you can physically do). Alternatively, metronome apps are convenient and often more versatile: the click sounds can be changed, time signatures can be selected and altered plus the main downbeat can be made louder and/or the sound varied.
Regardless of what is used, how you interact with a metronome is best served from two perspectives: it acts as a time keeper, maintaining tempo for your playing and also as your speed checker when wanting to play faster.
For time keeping, learn your song then set the metronome at the correct tempo so you can play it all the way through. If there are tricky passages you’re struggling with, work on these segments in isolation then practice with the metronome set to a much slower tempo. During this first session (or over several), these passages can be mastered allowing you to then return to the required tempo.
For the second option, increasing speed is popular with many musicians, especially guitarists who want to impress when soloing. For example, an easy lick at 100bpm can be tackled at 110bpm. If that’s working well, you could move up to 120bpm, and then 130bpm. The metronome is confirming how you’re making progress with your playing.
What follows are seven examples that show not only how useful metronomes are for honing your picking and time keeping, but also how they can unlock new levels of musical confidence.
Example 1. Simple time keeping with chord strumming
For this first example, the metronome is set to 100bpm and you’re working a steady 8th note rhythm with a Dm7 chord. Aim to be precise with the beat where your chord and the click are sounding exactly at the same time. Slightly emphasize the downstrokes that occur with the click by strumming louder than the upstrokes.
The latter part features the gallop rhythm which involves one down strum plus two quicker strums (down then up) per beat. The first down strum is what connects exactly with the metronome click for each beat. Maintain a loose picking hand wrist and lock to the click.
Example 2. Alternate picking short note sequences
This is focused on single notes and the development of speed using the metronome. A simple four-note pattern is a great place to start: here you’ll repeatedly alternate pick four 8th notes at 100bpm.
Once this is accurate and consistent (no miss-picks or concerning variations in tone or volume), use the same pattern at the much higher tempo of 180 bpm. If this is too much of a jump, drop the tempo down to 140bpm and see how you do.
With short exercises like this, you can develop a two pronged approach to technique building.
One is how fast and accurate you can play with only a few repetitions: the emphasis is on speed, not stamina. The other is to find what speeds you can play at with longer repetitions, the emphasis now being on stamina and not full-out speed.
Example 3. Varying note groupings
Getting accustomed to varying your rhythmic groupings is critical for many reasons ranging from technical ability to musical applications. You need to understand and feel them at any tempo, which creates a perfect reason to use a metronome.
Start with quarter notes using a 1 2 3 4 count, one note per click. You will then move onto 8th notes (two notes per click: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &) then rapid 16th notes (four notes per click: 1 e & a, 2 e & a, 3 e & a, 4 e & a).
Example 4. A musical way to developing speed
Here are more rhythmic challenges now as you shift between 8th notes, triplets (3 notes per beat: 1 & a, 2 & a), 16ths and sextuplets (six notes per beat).
Sextuplets are particularly challenging both technically and musically so if you’re struggling, start first at a slower tempo (eg 70bpm) with only two repetitions of six notes, finishing on a down pick with the first note. This will develop your precision and ability.
Now slowly increase the tempo to 100bpm, same two repetitions so you can see your speed and note clarity improving. Once you’re good at this speed, then explore shifting between the different note groupings.
If your precision and ability to seamlessly shift between groupings is going well, consider yourself on the way to a new musical high ground. All thanks to your practicing with the metronome!
Example 5. Speed burst practice to get faster
This example is like running exercises that switch between jogging and sprinting. For each bar, you will ‘jog’ for three beats of three notes grouped into triplets and then for the final fourth beat, you will ‘sprint’ with a sextuplet.
While taxing, it is a great way to work on bursts of speed you will encounter in music. Al Di Meola, Paul Gilbert and John Petrucci are masters of this: check out Race With Devil On Spanish Highway or Scarified. As with the previous example, work at slower tempos first if your picking (or indeed, legato if you’re using that instead) isn’t allowing the notes to sound clear and precise.
Example 6. Mastering chord rhythms with clicks on beats 2 and 4
Here’s a great example that many jazz and chord compers use to improve their timing, especially for swing grooves. Set the metronome at a very slow tempo such as 50bpm so there is lots of space between clicks. Now you need to think and feel one click is beat 2 and the next is beat 4. These clicks can be considered where the drummer’s snare drum (the back beat) is usually sounded in typical rock, blues and pop music.
With beats 2 and 4 dealt with by the metronome, it is your appreciation of the silence exactly between the clicks that will provide the important beats 1 and 3. You might want to clap or foot stomp a steady 4 beat first, with the metronome providing beats 2 and 4.
By doing this to hone your internal timing, you’ll then be ready to pick up the guitar and play the jazzy chords used in this example. Thankfully (!), the rhythm is very easy, just a steady ‘four chomp’ per bar but each bar’s second and fourth chords need to align with the clicks.
Developing an internal pulse so you can feel where the silent 1st and 3rd beats are is not easy. However, with an understanding of what is required and quality time spent practicing, you should achieve great results.
Example 7. Improving lead phrasing with clicks on beats 2 and 4
To finish this article, you are playing a short jazz-blues solo. You can try this along with the backing track rhythm part or just with a metronome click. After you’ve learnt these licks, explore writing a new solo or improvising freely to see if you can feel where those 1st and 3rd beats are. Enjoy your metronome!
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