Good metronome practice on guitar means treating the click like a band and trying to make it sound good. Start with one note: sing a subdivision against the click, play it on one string, then play it through a scale. Move from quarter notes to triplets, eighths, 16ths and beyond, and keep hearing the center while you do it.
We’re all trying to practice music, and how we practice with the metronome is super important. A stronger sense of pulse and rhythm makes you a better musician. This lesson walks through the subdivisions one by one, how to sing them, play them on one string and then put them into a G major scale over a drone.
How should you think about the metronome?
As a band, not as something beating far away outside of you. My goal when I practice with the metronome is to make the metronome sound good.
Every musician we admire, whether it’s rock, pop, jazz or hip-hop, has a sense of pulse and rhythm that’s quite astounding. If you want to bring your craft to the next level, you need to understand the grid, the pulse and the rhythm, and relate to them.
So this thing clicking away isn’t some random sound. It’s a good friend. It’s a band, it’s a groove. Whether I’m practicing a scale, an arpeggio, a line or a chord progression, my purpose is to make that band sound good.
When I’m practicing with the metronome, I want to make the metronome sound good.
Rotem Sivan
Which subdivisions should you practice?
Go up one at a time, from one note per beat to eight. In the video we go through all of them on one note, and you can do it with me.
- Quarter notes. One note per click. Try to align it right on the click. Feel it, and breathe in the time and rhythm so it’s internalized as much as possible.
- Quarter-note triplets. Three evenly spaced notes across two clicks. This is a little cross rhythm, the most basic cross rhythm in music. You’re feeling “one, two” against “one, two, three”. Try feeling it from the two side and from the three side.
- Eighth notes. Simply divide the beat into two. Try to make both notes balanced and equal as much as possible.
- Eighth-note triplets. Three notes per beat.
- 16th notes. Four notes per beat.
- Quintuplets. Five notes per beat.
- Sextuplets. Six notes per beat.
- Septuplets. Seven notes per beat.
- 32nd notes. Eight notes per beat.
If you haven’t tried the quarter-note triplet before, start by just counting it: “one, two, one, two” and then “one, two, three, one, two, three”, feeling it from the two side or from the three side. In the video I go through every one of these with you, so you can sing along.
How do you practice each subdivision?
Sing it first, then play it on one string, then play it in the context of a scale. Don’t try to sing and play at the same time. That’s much more difficult, and it’s not really necessary.
- Sing it. Put on a click and just sing the subdivision, “ta-ta”, until you’re sure you can sing it on its own.
- Play it on one string. Same subdivision, one note, no singing. Just play the time.
- Put it in a scale. Play it in the context of a scale, an arpeggio or an exercise.
- Make music with it. The next step is putting it in a musical context, so you’re making some music with it.
If you’ve never played subdivisions before, I wouldn’t do everything together. First work on a subdivision and make sure you’ve got it. Then bring in other elements, like singing the root.
How do you add a scale and a drone?
Put a drone on the root and play a scale in one position with the click and a subdivision together. In the video it’s the G major scale over a G drone, at 50 BPM.
I put a little drone behind me to hear that G, because I want to hear the relationship with every note I’m playing. So even while I’m working on subdivision, I try to hear the center. You can keep it to one position.
A practice idea for today
Set the metronome to 50 BPM. Sing quarter notes, quarter-note triplets, eighths, eighth-note triplets and 16ths against it, one at a time. Play each one on a single note on one string, without singing. Then put a G drone on, pick one position of the G major scale, and play it with one subdivision you’re comfortable with, listening to how every note relates to G. When that feels steady, play a short phrase with it and try to make the click sound like a band.
If you’d like a routine to put this into every morning, Technique & Speed is the routine I still play first thing each day, in notation and tab, starting with open-string picking. My three essential guitar techniques start with a one-note subdivision drill at 40 BPM that fits right next to this one. For a bigger picture of a session, see the guitar practice routine. And Solo Mastery brings rhythm work together with over 40 concepts for soloing, shell chords, harmony and ear training.
Frequently asked questions
What tempo should I use for metronome practice on guitar?
In this lesson I play the G major scale with a drone at 50 BPM. Whatever tempo you choose, keep each subdivision balanced and equal, and make sure you can still hear the center with every note you play.
What’s a quarter-note triplet?
Three evenly spaced notes across two beats. Against the click it creates a cross rhythm: you feel “one, two” and “one, two, three” at the same time. It’s the most basic cross rhythm in music, so practice feeling it from both sides.
Should I sing and play subdivisions at the same time?
No. That’s much harder and not really necessary. Make sure you can sing the subdivision on its own, then play it on one string without singing, then play it in the context of a scale or arpeggio.
How do I make metronome practice feel less mechanical?
Think of the metronome as a band and a groove, and make it your purpose to make it sound good. Add a drone so you hear the center with every note, and finish by putting the subdivision into a musical context.
Turn on the click, sing one subdivision, and play your first scale of the day as if the band is listening.
