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@Rob503 You are certainly not alone with this issue… And it’s an important thing especially if you are playing with others but also to sound better when you are soloing or singing along with your playing.
Lots of great advice here already- I would add that I usually never even get the metronome out until I am able to get my chord transitions fairly smooth first. It’s almost impossible to stay “on the beat” with the metronome if you’re still working at finding the right place on the fretboard.
Not sure which piece you are working at specifically, but whichever song, try just looking at the chords first. Do one simple down-strum per measure with whatever chord is indicated, changing chords as written. One strum per measure on the first beat. If you can get your new chord changes smooth on the first beat of the next measure, then get your metronome out and work on 1 beat per click with just the strum on the first beat. That will get you used to hearing the metronome, counting in your head (or out loud) along with the metronome, and your hands are only strumming once per beat on the 1.
(For example, If the song is in 4/4 time, starts on a C chord for the first 2 measures then switches to an F chord for the third and a G for the 4th measure, set your metronome at 30 bpm, and counting out loud: “1-2-3-4/C strum-2-3-4/C strum 2-3-4/F strum 2-3-4/G strum 2-3-4) If you’re not used to singing/speaking out loud while you are playing guitar, you might have to just count out loud with your metronome without your guitar at all, just to get used to that.
You can also use your metronome to practice your chord transitions. Tony has some lessons on that, you can practice say a C to F to C to F along with a metronome. That spotlights a specific element of a song which you can focus on until it’s smooth. Then switch it up to F to C to F to C etc… You can use the chord changes found within the song you are interested in learning, but use the metronome to help you smooth out the individual elements of the song. You will be ready for the entire song before you know it!!