how?

[GuitaRR]

would someboy mind explaining how to play along to a metronome? :confused:

[gersdal]

Whats the level of your question?

Beginner:
If you have a song that consists of only quarter notes, you play one quarter note per beat of the metronome. If you have a couple of 8th notes thrown in you should play the first at the beat, and the second in the middle before the beat. If you don't know what quarter notes and 8th notes are, check the articles section .-)

Not so beginner:
One good excercise is to use the metronome to practice your timing by setting it to one pulse each bar, and check that you keep the timing. Also, playing along with the metronome in tunes that are partly easy and partly difficult to make sure you keep to the same tempo for the whole of the tune is important.

I guess we could add a ton of more excercises to this, but that's the two purposes I spend most time with the metronome.

From wikipedia:
A metronome is any device that produces a regulated audible and/or visual pulse, usually used to establish a steady beat, or tempo, measured in beats-per-minute (BPM) for the performance of musical compositions. It is an invaluable practice tool for musicians that goes back hundreds of years.

The metronome was invented by Dietrich Nikolaus Winkel in Amsterdam in 1812. Johann Mälzel copied several of Winkel's construction ideas and received the patent for the portable metronome in 1816. Ludwig van Beethoven was the first well-known composer to indicate specific metronome markings in his music, in 1817, but many performances of his music still vary widely from his tempo indications, particularly in slow movements.

Musicians use metronomes when they practice in order to maintain an established tempo; by adjusting the metronome, facility is achieved at varying tempi. Even in pieces that do not require strict time (see rubato), a metronome is used to give an indication of the general tempo intended by the composer. Many pieces provide a tempo indication at the top of the manuscript.

[GuitaRR]

Well I was doing an exercise for alt picking (the famous PG lick) and i'm not quite sure on how to increase speed with respect to the metronome

[emilan]

it's all really a matter of subdividing the beat. If you're practicing a scale or a melody to a metronome to make sure you keep the tempo, which is a crucial aspect of playing, then you set the metronome to something slow like 60 bpm. Then you begin by playing the scale/melody where you play a note every click you hear. This is playing quarter notes. Then, keeping the same tempo, you play eigth notes, which means you fit in two notes for every click with the same space in between. Playing 16th notes you divide the beat in to 4 notes per click and so on. When you feel comfortable at one speed you increase the tempo to maybe 64 bpm and so on till you reach the desired tempo.

[panda234]

What is considered good "times" for scales for different classes of player. I know this is subjective to a degree, but in general, what should a beginner, intermediate, or advanced player be shooting for in terms of being able to play say the pentatonic scale in 8th, triplets, and 16th notes? For instance, I'm playing chromatic 16th notes at 80 bpm. That is clearly beginner, but what would intermediate be?

[UKRuss]

81bpm

:D

[Jed]

81bpm

:D

LOL

[panda234]

so I haven't got far to go...

[Darkman]

What is considered good "times" for scales for different classes of player. I know this is subjective to a degree, but in general, what should a beginner, intermediate, or advanced player be shooting for in terms of being able to play say the pentatonic scale in 8th, triplets, and 16th notes? For instance, I'm playing chromatic 16th notes at 80 bpm. That is clearly beginner, but what would intermediate be?I'd like to hear opinions on this. The bar is always raised every few years I suppose, but what a guideline? For sixteenth notes, what is intermediate, advanced, and then inhuman? I'm curious.

[DuB]

Well off the top of my head... I suppose that 16ths @ 100+ bpm would qualify as intermediate... 160+ or so would be advanced... and 200+ would be reaching the "inhuman" category (it's certainly faster than I'll ever need to play anyway!!). By this half-*** standard I would be intermediate.