Practicing with a metronome

Practicing with a metronome: timing is everything! Using a metronome to help you get a handle on tempo is just smart.

If there is a piece you are working on but you can’t play it accurately at speed, it just takes some practice to get “up to speed” with the correct notes and the correct timing. Use a metronome to slow the piece down. Slow down till you can find your one beat consistently. The metronome helps you play the correct notes in the correct order and slowly bring the work up to speed as you increase the tempo.

Start as slowly as you need to in order to play the work correctly! That is, play the part exactly the same way you will when you do it at speed; it should sound just how it’s supposed to, but slower (if that makes any sense).

Perhaps start at half speed.  If a song is supposed to be played at 160 bpm then start your metronome at 80 bpm. If that speed is still too fast, slow down a bit more. Once you get the song under your hand at the speed of the metronome, speed up by 5-10 bpm. Then, practice at that speed. If you can play that, continue speeding up. If not, go back down and practice until you can speed up. Repeat the process until you play the piece correctly at the correct speed. How satisfying that will be!

Amazon has a ton of metronomes in a low price range here: metronomes for guitar players