How Do I Use a Metronome?

Whenever you go searching for practice tips, without fail, you’ll come across people saying “make sure you use a metronome!”

They’re right to say this, but it doesn’t help if you’ve never used one before.

The nice thing is that you don’t need a PHD in advanced Rhythm and Harmony to get going with a metronome. You do, however, need patience, determination, and discipline. All of these will serve you in your pursuit of music and in your time in the practice room.

You could go to a store and purchase a metronome, or you could just download one on the phone you’re likely using to read this article. The one I use is called “Pro Metronome” and you can find it easily if you search on the given app-store on your phone. That doesn’t mean that’s the only one, it just so happens to be the one that I use because it goes as low at 10 beats per minute (BPM) and as high as 500 BPM.

Let’s get to it.

What do I set it to and when do I play?

Set your metronome to 60 BPM. You’ll notice it sounds like an analog clock because it is ticking/clicking at 60 beats per minute or 1 beat per second. Now, simply clap along with it. Clapping will be one of your best friends when it comes to practicing rhythms.

Clap along until you’re perfectly synched up and you “bury” the metronome. This term means that you are so in-time with it that you can actually lose track of the click. This is a great feeling and a strange one because of how, when you get really into it in your practice, you can become unsure whether or not you’re actually still going along to the click.

When you’re clapping along to the beat, you’re clapping along to quarter notes in 4/4 time, eighth notes in 6/8 time, etc.

What we want to do now is clap two times perfectly in time for every one click we hear. That would be eighth notes in 4/4 time or 16th notes in 6/8 time. If you haven’t done this much and/or want to see what perfect time sounds like, double the speed of your metronome to 120 BPM and clap to every click. This way you have the metronome telling you exactly what the proper speed/duration between claps/clicks should be and you can follow it until you’ve locked in again. After you have it at 120 BPM, switch it back to 60 BPM and try it again until you have it perfect.

You can use this method to figure out different rhythms. For example: if you’re looking at figuring out what an eighth note triplet sounds like at 60 BPM, simply triple the speed of your metronome. Likewise, if you’re looking to find out sixteenth notes at 60 BPM, quadruple the speed.

 

How can I get better at internalizing the beat?

A great method for internalizing the beat (having the beat inside your head so you are more accurate without a metronome like in a live situation) is to reduce the speed of the metronome by half, then again by half, etc. etc.

The best way I’ve found to start this is to actually start at something even and high, like 240 BPM and begin clapping on the beat. After you’ve perfectly matched this and feel you can do it comfortably, stop the metronome and reset it to 120 BPM and clap twice per beat. Then, again, reduce it to 60 BPM and clap four times per beat. Then down to 30 BPM and clap eight times per beat. Then down to 15 BPM and clap sixteen times per beat.

You will notice that, even when you get to 30 BPM, it starts to feel a little fuzzy if you haven’t worked on this or practiced rhythms often. It might feel like you’re in a foreign dreamland when you get down to 15 BPM and need to clap sixteen times per beat to match the one time per beat at 240 BPM.

This method is a foolproof way of telling just how on time you are with your rhythms. Many people fall apart even at 30 BPM without practice and have no idea where to go at 15 BPM. This isn’t because they’re bad or because it’s necessarily hard. This is because it takes practice and is unfamiliar territory. Remember, be kind to yourself and give yourself time when you’re learning anything. Especially new material.

Summary

Learning to play in time takes time. Practicing patience takes patience. Developing discipline takes discipline. These things all sound annoying but they all include the most important step of practicing something: doing it. You can read all the books you want on how to do something correctly, however, if you never actually do that thing then you can’t actually get better at it.

• Be kind to yourself
• Take breaks when you need to
• Slow and steady wins the race
• Challenge yourself but don’t get upset with failures. If you fail, look at it as successful attempt at trying.
• Be kind to yourself

Thank you for your time. If you have any questions about any of the materials then feel free to contact me for a lesson. You can always send me a message or leave a comment on the blog post as well.

Keep having fun and make sure to put in your time in the practice room.

All the best,

– Matt