I suck with a metronome

  • Thread starter Thread starter phillybhatesme
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Techdeth said:
Just practice with real backing tracks instead . You will learn timing better that way if you don’t like metronome . It works with my students
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I’m coming back to say I can play along with recorded music and band members just fine. But alone? When I’m practicing etudes on my classical G? Nah. I’m all over the fuckin place lol.
When I’m recording some new song I wrote, there are inadvertant tempo changes.
Now, I’m going back to hating this thread lol.
 
phillybhatesme said:
I’m coming back to say I can play along with recorded music and band members just fine. But alone? When I’m practicing etudes on my classical G? Nah. I’m all over the fuckin place lol.
When I’m recording some new song I wrote, there are inadvertant tempo changes.
Now, I’m going back to hating this thread lol.
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Word.

We can all relate I'm sure, and when my buffer size in Logic is too high it has a bit of latency and dammm that SUCKS too
 
Thats why I got a Ultra Mac with tons of Horsepower, seems to help with that and other things lol
 
Maybe I have the benefit of being a band kid and having following the beat drilled into me, but it's much easier for me to keep in time with a backing track vs a metronome. Strictly for exercises, of course a metronome is a must.
 
Got real humbled by my attempts to record for riff warzz earlier and ended up practicing with my metronome today. Nice and slow.
 
Some people do better when practicing to drum loops or backing tracks. If I really want to find the timing of a specific syncopation a real metronome is nice.
 
I've personally found that it's best to always practice with timing in mind. I.e. if you're learning a new song and playing it back slower than usual, always do your best to keep the timing as good as possible. That way your timing improves automatically while practising whatever you're practising at the moment. If you can't keep up the accurate timing while practising, then you're not good enough with the guitar lick/part/etc. you're trying to learn and need some more practise with that same part with lower BPM.
 
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MrFlexx said:
All you can do is practice, practice and practice. Start using really low tempo like 60bpm and work your way up in steps of 5. I know a lot will probably comment that's too low to start with, but that's a first hand recommendation from Guthrie Govan himself. Like he said: it's harder keeping a steady low tempo than a higher one.
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That's exactly what my guitar teacher did for my guitar lessons: start from really slow tempo and then start ramping up the speed a few BPMs at a time. Try keeping the BPM at a bit uncomfortable level at all times. Then when you go back to the slower BPM you'll notice how easy it is to play. That's a fast way to get better.
 
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I just call it "rubato" when I don't play in time perfectly.
 
Kraku said:
That's exactly what my guitar teacher did for my guitar lessons: start from really slow tempo and then start ramping up the speed a few BPMs at a time. Try keeping the BPM at a bit uncomfortable level at all times. Then when you go back to the slower BPM you'll notice how easy it is to play. That's a fast way to get better.
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Agreed. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
 
I got called out on my time decades ago when I though it was really good.........
The advice I got was to tap my foot along with the beat......Got me staying in the pocket pretty quick..
Lotta players do it when they play......EVH and Clapton spring to mind
 
BDC said:
I got called out on my time decades ago when I though it was really good.........
The advice I got was to tap my foot along with the beat......Got me staying in the pocket pretty quick..
Lotta players do it when they play......EVH and Clapton spring to mind
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I was told that if you can't tap your foot through a part, you don't have the rhythm for it down. That seems to track well in my experience. Also, the rhythmic exercises guitar lessons I've been working through all emphasize always tapping your foot on the beat regardless of what your hands are doing. Gotta internalize the pulse, and the ability to work against/in reference to it.
 
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Here’s the same mistake everyone makes when playing with a metronome.
The tempo set by the metronome is merely a SUGGESTION.
🛑 STOP - a) trying to use all the space by hitting on every click. Music doesn’t do that.
Instead weave around the click, hit on every other click, or between clicks.
The goal is to make music not be a machine.
Why is it that we can groove to a drum machine more easily than we can a metronome? The drum machine is making music, by accenting beats whereas the metronome isn’t reallly… (I have a Korg that has multi-time sigs and I detest it, I’d rather use a straight unaccented click.)
It’s a matter of getting the foot and the body in sync with the metronome and then relax and just groove with it. Leave lots of space, make music, not parts on a conveyor belt. The more I use it now the faster I pick other things up the cleaner I play.
 
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TheBiggestJerk said:
Here’s the same mistake everyone makes when playing with a metronome.
The tempo set by the metronome is merely a SUGGESTION.
🛑 STOP - a) trying to use all the space by hitting on every click. Music doesn’t do that.
Instead weave around the click, hit on every other click, or between clicks.
The goal is to make music not be a machine.
Why is it that we can groove to a drum machine more easily than we can a metronome? The drum machine is making music, by accenting beats whereas the metronome isn’t reallly… (I have a Korg that has multi-time sigs and I detest it, I’d rather use a straight unaccented click.)
It’s a matter of getting the foot and the body in sync with the metronome and then relax and just groove with it. Leave lots of space, make music, not parts on a conveyor belt. The more I use it now the faster I pick other things up the cleaner I play.
Click to expand...
IMO it's better practicing time with a drum machine than metronome......I agree with your point but it's important to have the control before you do much weaving like that...Kind of the point of practicing with a metronome... Also record yourself and listen honestly....
Perfection is often very much in the imperfections, but it has to be within reason and you gotta know where that is.
 
BDC said:
IMO it's better practicing time with a drum machine than metronome......I agree with your point but it's important to have the control before you do much weaving like that...Kind of the point of practicing with a metronome... Also record yourself and listen honestly....
Perfection is often very much in the imperfections, but it has to be within reason and you gotta know where that is.
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We don’t play on every beat in music, why would we on a metronome? Weaving is music. Space has to exist or it’s just machinery.
 
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