• Join the A7X Discord!

    We're updating the community and moving all social content from the community to the Discord. All lessons related conversations will still take place here though! Join the Discord below and view the full announcement for more details

    JOIN THE DISCORD VIEW THREAD

Metronome practice

T

TheRedMageGuitarist

Guest
Hey there buddy! Love seeing a new student here!

And I also LOVE the fact that you're asking about metronome practice, because it's a big thing. I'll try to answer this as best as I can, as someone who once played the Nightmare solo and had to practice it to a metronome.
Feel.
Let me say that again.
Feel.
And louder for the people in the back.
FEEL.

What I mean by this, is that if you have a slowdowner tool like The Amazing Slow Downer, you listen diligently to each section at a time and when it's slowed down, you can pat your leg or tap your foot along with the drum beat so you can get a sense of FEEL for the RHYTHMIC notations of the solo. For example, I think it's like the 4th or 5th measure of the solo, that there's 16th notes that then go into a triplet feel. Hear that section as many times as you can, play along with the music, and while you're playing it, HEAR the beat in your head to internalize it, so that you can understand how it's played against a BEAT and not against MUSIC. I hope that makes sense.

Then once you get it down with the music, take it over to the metronome and try it there. Most people don't understand how important it is to truly FEEL rhythmic notations of lead parts, so that you CAN play it against a metronome.
It takes a lot of conscious effort to LISTEN to yourself playing and say "Hey, that doesn't sound quite right. Let me try that again." Being self aware is massively vital.

If you don't understand what I mean, or if you have further questions, PLEASE be transparent and I'll be more than happy to make a video for you!

Cheers brother!
 
Upvote 0

Chris Johnston

Music Theory Bragger
  • Nov 11, 2019
    759
    10
    1,883
    29
    North Ayrshire, Scotland
    14
    What @TheRedMageGuitarist said on this one for sure👌

    This is usually how I practice a solo/technique:

    You want to find the underlying pulse of the music and this will be what your Metronome will be clicking on - you can then slow down to the tempo that is comfortable for you and speed up from there.

    Your body already understands what the pulse of the song is - stick the solo on and let your foot tap or head bob (basically what you would do in the crowd at a gig listening) as this will be the most honest representation of he pulse.

    Once you think you have the pulse I'd say slow it way way down until you can play it comfortably 5 times through with no errors (Be really honest about this! If you let the mistakes fly, they'll follow you up to higher speeds 👎)

    Once you can do the 5 times, up the metronome by 2 bpm and repeat - this way you'll be running over the solo and improving the speed gradually - Also each time you up it, it'll take less time to do the 5 reps because the tempo is increasing 🤟 If you do it 5 times, you've got 10 bpm quicker and played it with great technique!

    Hope this helps!
     
    Upvote 0