10 Reasons why You need a Metronome!

So, I talk about it almost every time I mention practice routine, or speed building, or guitar technique…the list goes on and I’m sure you get the point here- I find metronome use pretty essential!

It’s so important in fact, that I’ve recently installed a little javascript metronome to my site (there should be a button in one of the sidebars called “metronome”), just in case you don’t own one yourself and want to get the most out of the technical exercises here on the site (it opens in a new window- pretty basic, but all it needs to do is go “click” at different speeds…).

I’ve placed it near the top of the site, and it’s on pretty much every page (so now there’s no excuse not to be practicing when browsing the site!). So that you can make the most out of this new gadget, here are 10 reasons why you absolutely NEED to own a metronome if you want to become the best musician you can be.

Reasons You Need a Metronome

1. Slowing Down

One of the main uses you’ll find for this (sometimes annoying) clicking box is that it allows you to play a song/lick/exercise at a slower tempo without being out of time. As long as you’re happy with where the beats are in relation to what you’re playing (if not, and you would prefer to hear the whole song slowed down, go here).

The main big advantage of slowing the song down is that you can start at a pace that suits you. If what you’re trying to play is too fast at one tempo, slow it right down until you’re relaxed and can play it without feeling rushed. Then, slowly increase the pace (measured in bpm, or “beats per minute”) until you’re playing at full speed -or faster- with the same, relaxed, unrushed feel. For best results you’ll probably want to increase the tempo by so little at a time that you don’t even notice the change. This is how people end up shredding really fast with very little effort- because they’ve increase the speed slowly (and, before you know it, you’ll be shredding like that too…with practice of course!).

2. Speeding Up

Exactly the opposite of my first point, right?

WRONG! You see, once you’ve got your playing up to full speed (slowly, of course!) it’s best to speed it up so that you’re playing it even faster than the original. Why? Because then you can shre…no, this has nothing to do with super-fast guitar playing! It’s because then you can bring the speed back down to “full” speed and you’ll be extra confident and will make less mistakes.

Essentially, make things hard on yourself when you’re practicing- push yourself further than you need to go- so that when you play the real thing it seems easy. When I say push yourself, I mean slowly with the right technique, or course! Never just “play through” pain or discomfort!

3. Stay the Same Speed

OK, now you might be thinking I’m going a bit mad! My third reason you need a metronome is that it’s a great way to stay at the same speed. What am I talking about? I just said that metronomes are to help you slow down…or speed up…now they’re helping you stay the same speed aswell?!

You should slowly be realising the awesome power of what is, essentially, a little ticking box (or, in the case of the online one here, a little digital snare drum player…). The problem is that when you play a song, or a riff- or even an exercise- you’ll naturally be more hesitant and slower on the more difficult bits and yet want to speed up on the slower parts. The solution? Yes, you guessed it- the awesome power of the metronome!

The metronome will always tick at the speed you set it to- no gradual speeding up or slowing down. Yes, some find this boring, but to us musicians it’s one of the best features! The metronome will keep perfect time even when you can’t! He is unfazed by the difficulty of whatever you’re playing.

4. Rhythmic Subdivisions

Many people, when they start out with a metronome, only play one note for each click- whereas, in fact, the humble metronome can be used for greater purposes. Try playing two notes for each click, or four. The most interesting (read: hardest) ones to try are 3, 5, 6 and 7 notes per click- because each note needs to be an equal length (i.e. with 3 notes per beat each note is “a third of a beat” long…). This leads on to the next point, which is…

5. Listen to what You’re Playing

In order to be able to play all of these fancy subdivisions of beats, fast or slow tempos and…well…medium tempos…you’re going to need to listen hard to what you’re playing. A metronome will really help you to do this, in fact it’ll almost force you! There have definitely been some times when I’ve thought my playing was perfect but then heard the metronome and thought to myself “what’s the metronome doing? It’s timing sucks!”- alas, no, the metronome is always right in these arguments

Now, you may have noticed that I said there were 10 reasons, and I’ve only done 5 so far…this is going to have to go on to another post (I’ve just got so much good to say about the metronome!). Stay tuned for part 2 with even more reasons you should buy one (yay!).

Rob.
Practicing with a metronome.

February 8, 2010 at 9:28 pm | Guitar Technique and Exercises, Practicing and Practice Routine | 3 comments

3 Responses to “10 Reasons why You need a Metronome!”

1. 10 Reasons why You need a Metronome (part 2) | Chainsaw Guitar Tuition says:

   09/02/2010 at 1:56 pm

   [...] Right, so it turns out that my “10 Reasons” why you should get a metronome fills two whole (pretty long) blog posts! I can’t say I’m surprised, if you don’t [...]
2. How to Use a Metronome | Chainsaw Guitar Tuition says:

   09/03/2010 at 11:32 pm

   [...] Most Popular10 Reasons why You need a Metronome! [...]
3. How to Play Guitar: Setting Goals | Chainsaw Guitar Tuition says:

   30/03/2010 at 10:58 pm

   [...] 10 Reasons why You need a Metronome! [...]

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