omnilux

Hi guys,

I have no idea how to practice with a metronome, would I pick a note per tick? Or 1 note per 4 ticks with 4/4?

I have a metronome built into one of my multi-effects pedals and I noticed for one of the settings the 1st and 4th tick is louder, what does that mean? With other settings all the ticks are the same volume. I've just realised that my timing is way off, been playing for about 2 months and this is something I want to correct early.

Thanks for any help.

Sickz

You could alot of things with a metronome.

You could (for example) do what you described. Practice scales/arpeggios/chords whatever playing one note per beat (click), 1 note per two beats, or the other way around! Playing 2 notes per beat, or 3/4/5/6/7 etc. You could play any number of of notes during any number of beats, but it is mostly used for practicing subdivisions. That would be whole,half, quarter, eight and sixteenth notes. (And these notes in triplet forms)

So a little list for you.

Whole note = A note that rings for 4 beats/ 4 "clicks".
Half note = A note that rings for 2 clicks.
Quarter note = 1 note per click
Eight note = 2 notes per click
Eight note triplet = 3 notes per click
Sixteenth notes = 4 notes per click
Sixteenth note triplets = 6 notes per click.

Practice them at a comfortable tempo (that would be very slow at first) and get familiar with feeling different subdivisions. A metronome is essentially the core function of a drummer, to keep time evenly. All these notes per click should be evenly spaced.

You can also use a metronome to improve upon keeping time with riffs you know/are working on.
Start with setting the metronome to the right tempo and play the riff to it, making sure to always land on the 1st beat correctly. Then cut the metronome in half (So if you played in 120 bpm you would play in 60 bpm.) and play the exact same thing at the exact same tempo. The difference now is that you have half the amount of metronome and therefor got to have better internal time yourself! Then cut it in half again and play with the metronome at 30 bpm, then you have to have even better time.

And that is just 2 ways to use the metronome. Hope some of that was useful and that you understood what i ment. Cheers, and keep practicing!

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deltadaz

4/4 Yes 1 not per click would be quarter notes
2 per beat, would be eighth notes
4 per beat sixteenth notes

Well what he said above pretty much covers it well done

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omnilux

Perfect, that is exactly what I was looking for.

I've learned Seek and Destroy by Metallica as one of my firsts, so if I'm understanding this right I would set the metronome to a tempo I'm comfortable with and play the song one note per tick and gradually increase the tempo as I get more comfortable with no mistakes.

Eventually being able to play the song almost perfectly at the same tempo

Thanks for the info

Sickz

Precisely, you set the metronome to a tempo where you can play:


Cleanly
Relaxed
and
Accurate

You then do this for a while (A while being a couple of hours to a couple of weeks, depending on the tempo and how you feel at that tempo) until you can do it at that tempo effortless. Then you bump the tempo up by 3-5 bpm and repeat.

One thing i recommend doing aswell when practicing stuff is taking deep breaths constantly while playing at the same time. Lets say you loop the intro lick of seek and destroy. Then breath in for 2 full measures of 4/4 (or more or less, depending on tempo of the song of course, just take a slow deep breath and let it out slowly) and then breath out for 2 and repeat, while playing at the same time. I find that the tempo where you can do that at the same time as playing the riff your working on perfectly is the ideal tempo for you to work at. Cause if your playing to fast you will mess up by doing those long breaths, or the breaths won't be consistant. Just some personal advice that i use myself!

Good luck!

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bburritt1

Wow! Your good Sickz! Great advice. Metronome's are amzing they help alot more than you think. Not only will you be a better musician who not only has good concept of rhythm, You will also be well ready for studio sessions in the future the more you practice with a metronome.

Very easy and effective tool to have in your aresenal of awesome. But like I always teel all my beginner friends, Always take your time. Dont rush yourself there are no cliff notes or short cuts to learning any instrument. Either do it and be a happy musician or dont and be a very frustrated musician.

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Sickz

I try.

But Omnilux. If you ever have any more questions about something, you can always send me a message here on UG and ill do my best to answer or point you in the direction of someone i know that is better at that subject.

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Junior#1

That's not quite right. Most of what you have is right, but you need to also subdivide. For example, look at the riff just before the verse:


The + represents the click on the metronome, so you would play 2 notes per click.

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bburritt1

I think slayer's war ensemble is 20 notes per click.....

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omnilux

This was going to be my next question...

P.M.---| h P.M. h P.M.----| P.M.
e|---------------------------|--------------------------||
B|---------------------------|--------------------------||o
G|--------7^8--7-------------|---------------------5----||
D|--------------------7^8--7-|-(7)-----------5--------7-||
A|-0---0-----------0---------|------0--8--7-----7-------||o
E|---------------------------|--------------------------||


When you hammer on 7 to 8 would that also be like your example?

Junior#1

Yes, but for that, the first 7 and the eight are sixteenth notes. So that would be like this:

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omnilux

Would just like to thank everyone for their input, you've helped me greatly.

Ruark

I agree, the value of a metronome is highly underestimated. The fact is, you can go far beyond that, and have more fun to boot: use an electronic keyboard. Most of these, even cheap ones, have dozens, sometimes hundreds, of built-in percussion rhythms of every imaginable genre, and usually you can adjust their speed as well. It can REALLY rock if you can run it into an amp or your bookshelf stereo system, or maybe straight into a powered subwoofer. Same thing as a metronome, really, but vastly more fun.

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