Do you use a metronome?

remy

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If so, what for? does it help you? Did you buy one and never end up using it?

I've been thinking it might help me even out the pause between chord changes, but I never get around to picking one up or hunting down an internet site.
 
Its hard using a a metronome; you have to be very dedicated when using it, cause its can either be your worst enemy or your best friend. I dont know what exercieses to do with strumming but with fingering pickin its great.

lets say you have a finger picking exercise, but you can only do it at about 70 beats per minute(BPM). You start the exercise at 75BPM and play so many times though, i say that if you can play it 10 times though with out messing up you can increase the tempo. from 75 you move up to 85, if thats to fast move it down, if its still to easy you move it up.
 
I downloaded a little metronome widget for my laptop (Mac of course) which I use every now and then but very rarely, just when I'm practicing chord changes I'll do something like change chords every click to speed up my transitions.
 
A necessary tool

Every professional musician I know practices with a metronome at some point in their technique work out. The key is to start out by setting it as low as needed to play the riff perfectly. I keep being told Slow is The Way. Practice perfection and don't worry about speed. Move up a few notches and see if you can still play perfectly. If not, move back a few and try again.

A teacher once explained through her experience of learning to type. She said she got some old Army learn-to-type records. They would say, "Type a, Type A, Type A" etc so slowly that it was like using a metronome. The records kept her typing combinations slowly and repeatedly throughout. She realized the method ensured she never made mistakes. Believe it or not, you will be able to play things much faster if you include slow, slow, slow in your practices.

Also, don't waste time replaying entire songs. Use this technique to play those three chords changes that keep stumbling. Be efficient in what you practice.
 
"I can keep rhythm with no metronome.
No metronome.
No metronome..."


Seriously, though, I don't use one, though I probably should. Sometimes, though, I put together a simple beat on the little shareware drum machine program I have on my laptop and play along to that.

I've tried using it to just make a steady click-beat, like a metronome, but then playing/practicing feels like work. But with a little kick drum and snare, it just feels fun. It's really the same thing, really, but it's a big psychological difference.
 
I use TuxGuitar for practicing chord changes and/or parts of songs I'm having trouble with. As with others, there is a metronome feature, big deal. The neat part is you can set it to loop the song (or section) and increase the speed a little at a time so you can build up to the desired tempo.

For example, I'll plug in the troublesome section and copy it a half-dozen times with a rest in between. Then I set the metro/practice feature to start at say 50% of the desired tempo and increase it by say 3% each time it loops until it hits 100%. I'll sometimes set the top end to something like 120% so that once I get it down, it's easy to step back to the target tempo.

Now, you don't really have to tab the whole thing out either. I usually just throw some reference notes/beats in there just so I can keep a feel for what I'm working on. Of course, I totally agree with the 'practice efficiently' idea mentioned earlier.


have fun!
 
I have one from a past musical endeavor from long ago but haven't used it so far since starting ukulele. My right foot sort of makes the same kind of sound :D

Nice idea tad.
 
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I believe the true fruit of practicing with a metronome comes out when playing with other people. Nothing worse than not be able to keep a steady tempo. Some uke players in my vicinity have lightning fingers, and on their own they sound pretty cool, but when you try to give them a rhythm backing it's downright hell... faster-slower-faster-slower....

Perhaps we could call it the "musician's reality check"?
 
Sometimes, though, I put together a simple beat on the little shareware drum machine program I have on my laptop and play along to that.

I've tried using it to just make a steady click-beat, like a metronome, but then playing/practicing feels like work. But with a little kick drum and snare, it just feels fun.

This is also a great way to set things up when you're recording. In almost any recording software, having things set to a solid beat helps out, especially when multi-tracking.

I've found that I can play straight on through a piece when there's a bit of "drums" for the rhythm but somehow having just a "click click click click" throws me off.

When you play a part in a multi-track recording that matches up to a "click track" of some sort or another, it makes it way easier to add other parts (and/or musicians) to the recording. Plus, it makes it a snap to copy a good verse/chorus and paste it in over one you've hiccuped on.

Apparently I've given you some rep points recently and haven't "spread it around" enough to make the software happy. Otherwise you'd surely get some for that post.

I use TuxGuitar for practicing chord changes and/or parts of songs I'm having trouble with.

Two questions.

1. Does TuxGuitar allow you to enter music notes on the staff and then turn it into tab?
2. Does it do any instruments/tunings besides guitar? I tried to find the answer to this one on their site but it's either not there or I just missed it.
 
Two questions.

1. Does TuxGuitar allow you to enter music notes on the staff and then turn it into tab?
2. Does it do any instruments/tunings besides guitar? I tried to find the answer to this one on their site but it's either not there or I just missed it.

1 -- No, I wish.

2 -- YES -- it's multi-track too (as opposed to one of the others that just has treble or bass), so you can plug them all into the same file.

I just use it for importing existing tabs (from all the other tab programs) that gives me a common format, and for practicing troublesome stuff. It is capable of a lot more than I use it for, that's for sure.
 
Yes, I use a metronome. It really helps to get passages smoothed out. It also helps build up speed.
 
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