Tech News: Play Better Guitar – Metronome….say what!!

Welcome to Play Better Guitar, and yes we are going to talk about the metronome although many people might say “what’s that?” I have been teaching guitar for many years as well as producing guitar in the studio and the one common flaw I find amongst guitarists is the weak rhythm playing and the inability to play in time. Obviously if you don’t have the metronome on, you will always sound like you’re in time.

Working with a metronome will give you a strong rhythmical sense.

Often I will go listen to bands and most times I find that guitarists tend to consistently rush their playing.

Many people might say that this has to do with feel and that you can’t teach feel; maybe not but you can practice it. Even if you are practising your latest licks do it with a metronome and you will find that in time your playing will get a better flow and your feel will change.

Many of the artists from 15 years ago say they never used a metronome but they would jam to records and that in itself is like playing with a glorified metronome.

Take it one step further… record yourself playing against a metronome, scales, some strumming, some finger picking and then you be the judge as to where and how your playing sounds and feels.

There are many exercises you can do with a metronome. I have found that the most useful way of using it is by putting the clicks on beats 2 and 4, this will give you a very strong sense of the back beat. No matter what your favourite style is, consistent practice with this tool will make you a better player and although I am not saying that this should replace your jam time what I am saying is that it should be added to your practice routine!!!

Imagine feeling the groove so well that you could play any rhythmical pattern; this will add another dimension to your performance with great feel.

So here is a little exercise; we’re going to take one of the licks from last months lesson and move it onto a different beat; once again make sure you use a metronome and start off slowly.

Exercise 1

This is one of the licks from the last lesson, take note how it starts on beat 4, now try and play the lick starting on an offbeat.

Exercise 2

Ok so here we have the same lick as above except the lick starts on the offbeat.

This is the kind of command you can have around rhythms if you practice them properly, and once again listen to players that know how to use rhythm to their playing advantage.

Exercise 3

Here we have a 5-note pattern played in groups of four, the difficult part to this lick is to put the accent on the correct beat or it would not really matter.

Exercise 4

By doing this we can make old licks interesting by just manipulating the rhythm, so once again that’s why it is so important to have a firm grip on the sense of rhythm and time keeping.

That’s all for this month, I do suggest you go out and get yourself a jam buddy; the Korg ToneWorks is a great tool to keep close at hand or just a simple metronome like the Boss DB-30.

What I like about the Korg is the option to use different sounds with a groove, however sometimes the simplicity of a plain metronome is challenging so try both and mix it up. I think the important point is to get something that will challenge your time keeping and try and make a recording of this as this will help “You Be The judge.”

Till next time have fun with the metronome, and once again don’t just take my word for it but test this concept and make it your own!!!

Written By   :   Kurt Slabbert

Copyright Kurt Slabbert

Bluenoise Productions

kurt_slabbert@hotmail.com