Tony’s Acoustic Challenge – The New Way to Learn Guitar › Family Forums › Community Support › Metronome blues
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Metronome blues
Posted by Trav on May 9, 2021 at 5:53 amHowdy all ,
I’m a 52 yr old newbie only 30 days into my guitar journey . Still working on the 30 days to play course and going from never touching a guitar to actually understanding the basics and having a ball has been awesome , then my daughter came home from college ( vocal major ) and although she’s extremely proud of my progress and desire she asked why I wasn’t using a metronome because my timing and beat were way off . I know what a metronome is it just never came up in my lessons so far. So for 3 days now its been a disaster I just cant get my brain to work my fingers and keep in time with the metronome ( that I started calling the miserable son of a B***H ) . I have watched some wonderful videos on youtube , starting off with 1/4 notes …sure easy ! going to 1/8 cant go 10 seconds without dropping way off . Any advise would be awesome , I’m not playing as much as I was because I dont wanna continue with bad habits or should I just keep up with lessons and worry about timing later ? I’m guessing Tony’s lessons will address the S.O.B eventually should I wait till then. Just feel stuck . Thanks , Nick
Michael-K73 replied 3 years, 9 months ago 7 Members · 7 Replies -
7 Replies
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My Non-Professional take…
Get your chord transitions down first. You will always lag or lead the beat until you can move from chord to chord fluidly enough. If you are picking (flat or finger), you also have to develop the timing between your two hands. Before that working on rhythm is like trying to walk and run all in one go.
Once you can get the basic mechanics of just playing the instrument down, then you can turn to a metronome if you want. You can also use backing tracks, the actual song, or a drum track to work on timing. When you do start to learn rhythm and timing, start with making sure you can do a down-strum on each beat, then learn to do a down on the beat, and an up on the “&” count. From there you can then start to learn strumming patterns. There are good resources in the skills section to help with this.
Other more experienced guitarists may chime in with other or better advice, but this is how I go about it with my kids.
Just a fun glimpse into my guitar life with kids…
I am in a position where neither of my kids wants to use the annoying thing. Instead, I find myself, a couple of times a week, just being the metronome for them by chunking muted strings for them in a steady beat (while trying to ignore and pay attention to what they are doing simultaneously so that I don’t speed up or slow down). All smiles and encouragement for them while I die a little inside lol. -
Trav—
You are NOT alone!
As for me– even though I try to work it in with some of my practicing- (repeat– some…), most of the time it sits quietly…… staring at me😠.
There have been a few threads in our Community on the dreaded metronome- include a couple I have been part of.
Maybe you have have the same kind of metro that Jumpin’ Jeff and I have- it’s always “off” a little bit……
There are many folks here who can offer way better advice than myself, but my 2 cents is to NOT let it “get in the way” of your overall learning, progress, or enjoyment of your journey.
I hope others chime in on this– I bet there will be quite a few.
Carry-on without it for now,
Mark J
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I believe in using a metronome frequently, and it’s never too early to start. Occasionally Tony mentions the metronome, but I don’t recall any lessons built around use of the metronome.
As far as getting your chord transitions down first, I say don’t wait. You don’t necessarily have to use the metronome to practice your chord transitions, at least initially, but at least start practicing single string picking with it.
You mentioned some success on quarter notes and then a lack of success with eight notes. You did not mention speed. A quarter note at a certain tempo is exactly as long as an eighth note at half that tempo.
My advice is to start fairly slow, just using down picks on a single string. Don’t even worry about playing a scale or melody. Initially just try to make one down pick on every click, say at 60 bpm. Slow it down if this seems difficult. And try to tap your foot in time with the metronome as you do this.
You did not say whether you tried all down picks or a D-U-D-U technique when you tried to do eighth notes. Definitely try the D-U-D-U approach. Remember to tap your foot once per click in time with the metronome. If it is too hard, slow the tempo until you find some success.
If this seems difficult, recognize that it takes time to learn it. Give yourself a chance. Gradually speed up the metronome as you gain confidence.
Next, learn a simple melody, something like “Mary had a Little Lamb.” Start playing that to the metronome, slowly at first and gradually increasing speed.
As you get more confident with chord transitions, pick two chords that are easy for you and start practicing alternating between just those two chords to the beat of the metronome. This will most likely need to be at a speed much slower than the other things you were doing. Maybe 40 bpm. If that’s too fast, only strum on every other beat. The point is to begin internalizing your sense of timing and to have discipline and accuracy as to when you strum, your fretting hand will eventually learn to keep up with your strumming hand and tapping foot.
I hope to hear back from you in a few weeks to see whether you see improvement. Too often, we’re impatient and looking for a quick fix. Give yourself enough time to learn this. We often get to practice only a few minutes per day, so it’s unfair to expect we’ll just turn on the metronome and things will just fall into place. Be patient. The metronome is a quantitative thing and over time you will be able to measure progress very objectively.
I’m playing some bluegrass melodies around 170-180 bpm these days, but I still have quite a way to go to truly get them “up to tempo.” It has taken quite a few years of practice to get to where I am, and it will take a lot more practice to get to where I want to be. But I have lately started a few new tunes and had them up to the 130-140 range pretty quickly – less than an hour after starting the tune.
You can get good results too if you pay your dues. The key to keeping good time is practicing regularly over a long time with patience. Did I just say the key to good time is time? Yes, in fact I did.
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Silly me – I wrote from the perspective of a flat picker. You can certainly adapt the approach I outlined to finger picking or you can choose to do both. Just remember to start slow and simple. Build a little speed with simple things and then slow things back down as you build complexity. Make rhythm and timing become a part if your regular practice routine.
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I too struggle with using a metronome. Fine on the quarter beats but the eighth notes are harder. But just keep at it. Not to the point where it inhibits your playing though. Use it as part of the stuff you want to practice but don’t make the practice about using the metronome – if that makes any sense. Just take a couple of minutes out of your practice time to practice the metronome instead of having it going the whole time regardless of what you are working on.
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Congrats on picking up and learning the guitar @Trav ! First, know that you are awesome!
Next, there are alternatives to the metronome, like playing to backing tracks or to actual songs. I have a tough time with the metronome. If I’ve used it a dozen times, its a lot. But I like backing tracks. It’s not for everyone, and just a suggestion of an alternative option.
Also, you can usually adjust the sound type and the volume on the digital metronomes, so maybe playing around with that will help. A drum beat? A cymbal? Might be better than tick tick tick.
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