The Metronome: Your Best Musical Partner

The Metronome: Your Best Musical Partner

Most musicians know what a Metronome is and have practiced with one. Many musicians just think of it as a way to help you keep time but there is SO MUCH more to it.

Some of us have a love/hate relationship with them but a Metronome is one of the most valuable tools you can use to develop your playing regardless of instrument. So much so that personally, I feel that one hour of practice WITH a Metronome is equal to three hours without one. Yes, that is how much of a difference it can make and I’ll explain why.

The Ultimate Time Keeper

Yes, it definitely helps with staying in time, that’s pretty much a given. There are other tools that do the same that are a bit more fun such as a Drum machine or Drum loops. Some prefer those and they definitely have their benefits.

However, one of the great things about the Metronome is it can easily be used in any Time Signature. Sure, drum machines let you program odd timed drum beats but with a Metronome those single clicks can be counted however you need to without adjusting anything, just count to the number of beats you need. Side note: For this reason if you have a Metronome with an accent beat I recommend turning that off unless you set it to count number one of however many beats you need.

Go Speed Racer

It helps increase speed.

Now, let me dispel an important myth…just because someone can play something fast doesn’t mean they are necessarily good. In other words, speed does not equal Mastery. However, you have to obviously develop a certain level of speed (I prefer to call it “Fluidity”) in order to execute some riffs. There is also a difference between REAL Speed and FAKE Speed but that is for another article.

For example, if there is a riff or a lick in a song that is played at say 144 beats per minute (BPM) on the Metronome you obviously need to be able to play it at that speed. I highly recommend working something like that up to say 160 BPM. Why? This way even when you’re having a “bad day” on your instrument (trust me, we ALL have them) you are able to comfortably play the riff.

How does it help increase speed? Contrary to what many think you don’t build up speed…er, uh…fluidity by just playing fast. As a matter of fact, most of the time that is counter-productive because generally when we try to play fast, we end up going faster than we are really capable of so what happens? Just like a car going faster than it should, we lose control and crash. We mess up and start over and keep repeating that process which accomplishes nothing.

So how do we do it then? Glad you asked. The trick is to play the part at a slower but challenging pace over and over and over. A tempo that you can in fact play the part smoothly but still pushes you. You build up the speed by repeating it at this tempo over and over for at least 1 minute. If you can do it for 1 minute without messing up then you need to increase the tempo. If you can’t do it repeatedly for at least 30 seconds then you need to slow it down.

Here's the issue though, when you try to do this on your own you will naturally speed up and slow down. That doesn’t help. However, if you do it with a Metronome it will force you to stay at a constant tempo and the repetitions over the course of that minute or so is what builds up the speed. It’s much like holding a squat position, easy to do for 30 seconds but hold a squat for 5 minutes and your legs will feel it. You also build muscle that way. It’s the same concept. A marathon not a sprint but the Metronome forces you to stay at a consistent tempo.

Watch Yourself Grow

Here is another benefit to working with a Metronome that most don’t think of. Have you ever tried to watch yourself grow? What do many parents do? They put little size markers on a wall with a date so you can mark how tall you were then versus now. A Metronome does the same thing. 

Let’s say for example you are working on the riff at 130 BPM on Jan 9 2026. Write that down. Then come March 9th let’s say you can now play it comfortably at 152 BPM. Congrats! Nice improvement. Again, not that playing faster necessarily means you are great but you know you’ve improved some with that riff and can continue to track your progress.

It's hard as we develop as musicians to notice our own progress which often leads to false frustration. Sure once in a while we find we can finally nail that chord but this method is more frequent and easier to keep track of. I have done this many times for both my students and myself.

Joining The Right Click

One last tip … Many of us have used the traditional wind-up Metronomes that are often brown and look triangular. Honestly, I don’t recommend them. I have found a few that when the pendulum clicks from one side to the other they are not precisely accurate which does more harm than good. I highly recommend a battery operated electronic one or a digital app on your phone.

You can also book a lesson with me here!