welcome to part two in my learn to shred lessons.
Today we are going to learn how to use a metronome .
A metronome is a timekeeping device that keeps a beat
for musicians to play along to.
We can play in different time signatures by playing a different number of notes to each click;
Each time the metronome clicks you should play a note at the same time and optionally more notes; either one, two, three, four or six notes per click.
Make sure to play the note that lands on the click of the metronome slightly louder to accent the beat.
Building speed with the metronome:
The metronome is a fantastic thing that can help make you a faster guitarist if you understand the principles of speedbuilding;
Take the chromatic excercise below and play it at four notes per click
at a speed of 66 beats per minute.
Play as accurately as you can with your left thumb behind the neck and with your
guitar pick at an angle, so it slices through the strings (repeat this excercise over and over)
l----------------------------------------------------
l----------------------------------------------------
l------------------------------------5-6-7-8-------
l-------------------------5-6-7-8------------------
l---------------5-6-7-8----------------------------
l-----5-6-7-8--------------------------------------
l------------------------------------7-8-9-10------
l-------------------------7-8-9-10-----------------
l----9-8-7-6-7-8-9-10----------------------------
l----------------------------------------------------
l----------------------------------------------------
l----------------------------------------------------
l--11-10-9-7---------------------------------------
l---------------11-10-9-7--------------------------
l----------------------------11-10-9-8-7-8-9-10--
l----------------------------------------------------
l----------------------------------------------------
l----------------------------------------------------
l----------------------------------------------------
l----------------------------------------------------
l--9-8-7-6-----------------------------------------
l------------9-8-7-6-------------------------------
l------------------------9-8-7-6-------------------
l-----------------------------------9-8-7-6--------
Base Speed:
This is the fastest speed you can play accurately straight after you pick up the guitar
Working speed:
This is the fastest speed you can play accurately after playing the guitar for a while and properly warmed up
Now you understand the terminology lets get to the important bit;
How to build speed:
Take the above excercise and play it at 66 bpm ;
if you play it comfortably and accurately three times in a row then increase the metronome speed by 6bpm
if you make mistakes or feel uncomfortable decrease the speed by 6bpm
repeat this process for 30-45 minutes and write down this fully warmed up speed;
this is your working speed
repeat this everyday and you will notice that your working speed will gradually increase and you will find it easier to play faster with each day
A realistic speed after 2 months of this speedbuilding technique is 144 beats per minute and after 6 months you should hit 160-175 bpm
2 comments:
When you say "start playing at 66bpm", how many notes per click do you mean ?
I have been working up from whole notes, half notes quarter notes etc at each tempo. So one strum per beat, then 2, then 4. and so on, then speed up each and you will see massive improvement. I am doing much better after a few long hours of practice.
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