Metronome practice

phydaux · #1 06-22-2022, 07:55 PM

I dusted off my metronome and did some arpeggio practice. Finger picking and flatpicking.

I hate my metronome.

If tonight was any indication then I've got a feeling I'm gonna hate it a WHOLE LOT MORE in the coming weeks.

Joe Beamish · #2 06-22-2022, 08:56 PM

Game changer for me.

gerhardp · #3 06-22-2022, 09:25 PM

I hate that thing too, it never compliments my playing, instead it tells me the truth.

Robin, Wales · #4 06-23-2022, 01:17 AM

It forces you to actually listen to your guitar's output in real time. And builds up the links between hand movement and sound, cutting out your conscious mind. Playing becomes non-conscious and so frees up cognitive capacity for other jobs.

Got to love your metronome really, it's the fastest way to get a tune "wired".

phydaux · #5 06-23-2022, 07:38 AM

When I practice, usually just strumming lightly with my fingers, I intentionally stare at the ceiling. I don't look at either hand. And with time & practice I find that my hands remember how to find the notes & strings just fine.

When I practice with my metronome I find that I have to concentrate on the metronome. Like Robin said, actually listening to the guitar so that I stay in time with the metronome. As I do that I find that my hands then forget EVERYTHING. My left hand misses chord changes, and right hand fingers miss the strings.

So then I have to concentrate on the metronome, while listening to the guitar, while I look at BOTH of my hands, snapping my head back & forth like I'm watching a supersonic tennis match. As as I do that my tone just goes to pieces. My dynamics are all over the place, some notes too loud and some barely audible.

And lately I've been getting super aware of my tone, and how generally LOUSY it is.

reeve21 · #6 06-23-2022, 07:44 AM

My timing can get really messed up when I'm learning a new tune, especially when I hit a tricky part. I rush.

The metronome really smooths things out for me. Ironically, running through a tune I'm struggling with a few times with the tick/tock going is the best way for me to make it start sounding less mechanical and more musical. When I turn it off things sound a lot smoother than before.

phydaux · #7 06-23-2022, 07:47 AM

I have to keep reminding myself that I only just picked the guitar back up a year and a half ago after a 30 year layoff, and before now I've never advanced beyond "Abject Beginner." So these are all brand new skills that I'm trying to learn.

So then the REASONABLE EXPECTATION is that I would struggle while learning the new skills, and that I would SOUND like a beginner as I play. It is UNREASONABLE to expect that I would sound any other way. And since I clearly DO have that expectation of myself, as evidenced by my enormous, childish, negative emotional reaction to my playing, then that's just my hubris messing with me.

Hubris is the enemy of growth.

reeve21 · #8 06-23-2022, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phydaux

I have to keep reminding myself that I only just picked the guitar back up a year and a half ago after a 30 year layoff, and before now I've never advanced beyond "Abject Beginner." So these are all brand new skills that I'm trying to learn.

So then the REASONABLE EXPECTATION is that I would struggle while learning the new skills, and that I would SOUND like a beginner as I play. It is UNREASONABLE to expect that I would sound any other way. And since I clearly DO have that expectation of myself, as evidenced by my enormous, childish, negative emotional reaction to my playing, then that's just my hubris messing with me.

Hubris is the enemy of growth.

Well put. It can take a lot of humility to play something slowly enough to get it right, but you'll never get it right if you don't.

Silly Moustache · #9 06-23-2022, 08:13 AM

I hates metri-gnomes - they all slow down!

dnf777 · #10 06-23-2022, 08:24 AM

Yeah, my metronome is all over the place! Cant keep time worth a darn!

Tahitijack · #11 06-23-2022, 09:23 AM

I'm learning piano and my teacher doesn't believe there is any value in a metronome. He doesn't want me to become mechanical in my playing but rather play the melody as I would sing it. I'm playing songs from the great American Songbook and I listen to Frank, Tony, Andy, Ella and others the use of a metronome would ruin the music.

rick-slo · #12 06-23-2022, 09:29 AM

Good for practice exercises.

Deliberate1 · #13 06-23-2022, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phydaux

Hubris is the enemy of growth.

If I had a tattoo....

David

Andyrondack · #14 06-23-2022, 11:39 AM

I was trying to remember how my music teachers at school got me to play at a steady tempo but whatever techniques they might have used I've long forgotten how they did it.
I certainly never used a metronome so they can't be that essential though I wouldn't be without one now.
This video has a good test to see if you can maintain a steady pulse, shame there is no way to change the bpm.
https://practisingthepiano.com/rhyth...-steady-pulse/

Joe Beamish · #15 06-23-2022, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tahitijack

I'm learning piano and my teacher doesn't believe there is any value in a metronome. He doesn't want me to become mechanical in my playing but rather play the melody as I would sing it. I'm playing songs from the great American Songbook and I listen to Frank, Tony, Andy, Ella and others the use of a metronome would ruin the music.

Being able to play with a metronome will not make you mechanical.