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Alternate Ways To Use A Metronome

Metronomes have long been an essential part of a guitarist's toolbox. Most commonly, they're used to practice a technique at a slowly increasing BPM. However, there is a number of ways you can use a metronome to work on different elements of your guitar playing as well.

In this guitar lesson, we're joined by Jacob Wiens to talk about an unconventional method for using a metronome. Instead of increasing the speed of the metronome incrementally, we'll be decreasing the speed by cutting it in half. This forces us to fill in the spaces ourselves.

Pull up your metronome and start off by playing something at 100 BPM. Now, cut that in half and play the same thing at 50 BPM. Don't play it any slower, just use the metronome to mark half-notes instead of quarter-notes. Once you've got the hang of that, you can cut the time in half again so you're at 25 BPM. At this point, you'll still be playing at the same speed, but the metronome will only be marking the start of each measure.

You can continue to decrease the speed by cutting it in half. It will be quite a challenge at first, but over time it will greatly improve your sense of timing. Try it out starting at different tempos as well and see how you do. Don't expect to nail it right away. Be patient, and incorporate this exercise into your daily practice time.