If your guitar playing is nowhere near the level that you wish it could
be at there could be a variety of reasons. There are a number of skills
and techniques that you must master in order to become a great musician.
The focus of this article will be on technique. There is no substitute
for technique when it comes to conveying your creative vision to others.
You can be a brilliant musical, but if you do not have the ability to
get your music out of your instrument, it will be next to impossible to
express yourself musically in the way that you want to. Technique alone,
like any other musical factor, is not the most significant piece of the
musical puzzle, but without technique, it is impossible to play what you
really want to hear.
Most musicians will agree that a metronome is a valuable tool for
developing both control and accuracy on your instrument, but many
guitarists do not know how to get the most out of using a metronome. I
am repeatedly asked, “How do I use a metronome
to develop more speed?”
In this article I will address that question. Keep in mind that the
approach to practicing your guitar that I describe here should be
incorporated into your practice time and balanced out by all of the
other musical elements. You want to make certain that all of the musical
abilities that are pertinent to you to achieving your goals as a
musician are constantly being improved upon.
One of the most asked questions concerning the use of a metronome is “what
tempo should I begin with?” The answer to that question all depends on
your present level of skill as a guitarist, the particular exercises and
technique you are working on, and whether or not you are playing 8th
note triplets or straight 8th notes. If your are playing 8th note
triplets you will have to set your metronome to a slower speed then if
you were playing straight 8th notes, because if you play 8th note
triplets you have to play three notes for every click of the metronome.
Where as if you were playing straight 8th notes you would only play two
notes for every click of the metronome.
Before you begin to incorporate a metronome into your practice you
should make a detailed list of the techniques and problem areas of your
guitar playing that you wish to improve upon, and write down next to
them the goals that you want to achieve concerning speed. Next you will
want to evaluate how fast you can play a specific technique comfortably
at. Write down the results, all of these things will help you to
evaluate your present skills and show you were you must improve before
you can play at the level that you wish to play at. Once you understand
your present playing abilities and the exact technical challenges that
you are facing, overcoming them will be that much easier. A
metronome is
a useful tool for fixing problems, but only after you become aware of
exactly what problems need to be fixed.
Once you are certain about your goals and present skill level, it is
time to take out your metronome. I recommend that you start practicing
at around 35-55% of your maximum speed.
Make it your first goal to train your fingers the movements and learn to
relax while playing each phrase of an exercise. Make certain that your
playing is clean and exact, if it is not it will become that much more
difficult for you to acquire the control that is necessary to play
cleanly and comfortably at greater speeds.
The next question that I am frequently asked is “how will I know when
to increase the speed and by how much?” There is no one answer to this
question, but I will share with you the method that I use. You should
increase the speed of your metronome when you are capable of playing at
the slower speeds, cleanly, easily, consistently and accurately. This
means that you should be able to play the passage over and over again
and not just nailing it one time. When you are capable of doing that you
should go ahead and increase the speed of your metronome’s tempo by
1-15% of the earlier speed. As you approach your maximum speed make
smaller increases to your metronome’s tempo.
One other common question is “what do I do when I get stuck at a
certain playing speed?” To get beyond a sticking point, you have to
understand what exactly is going wrong when you are playing at your
maximum speed. Analyze where you are going wrong and were the mistakes
are occurring. Slow down your metronome by about 60-80% of your maximum
speed, play the exercises again focusing on were you are making mistakes
when you played at your maximum speed. Improve on theses areas by
playing them more efficiently and relaxed. Practice at this speed for a
while and then set the metronome back up to the higher speed. Your
maximum playing speed should now become easier to play at.
Many guitarists shy away from using a metronome, because of the
challenges of not knowing how to use one, a lot of guitarists fail to
develop great technical skills because they fall prey to a widespread
myth that continues among guitar players. A number of guitarists falsely
believe that developing good technical skills inevitably means that
their playing will begin to lack in emotion or feel. Consequently, many
guitarists choose do not pursue a high level of technical skill, mainly
because of a false fear of becoming boring, emotionless shredders.
Excellent technical skills are only a tool, just like others tools that
make for a great musician. You are free to use the tools that you posse
in any way that suits your musical vision, take guitar players such as
Paul Gilbert. Rusty Cooley, and Theodore Ziras, their technique is
completely different from, Eric Clapton, BB King, and Jimmy Page, but
they all play with tremendous emotion that is suitable for their style
of playing and projecting their musical vision.
Finally my advise to you is to let go of all negative misconceptions
that you may have previously held about speed and work on acquiring as
much technical skill as possible so that you can play and express
yourself in the way that you want to.
Use the methods as explained above, believe in yourself and you will
absolutely begin to see a great deal of progress in your guitar playing,
AND ALWAYS USE A METRONOME!
http://www.riffsnstrings.com/guitar_tips/how_to_use_a_metronome.htm
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