David Motto’s Practice Tip of the Week
3 Essential Metronome Strategies

Metronomes Are Must-Have Tools

Metronomes are great tools for helping musicians play evenly, learn rhythms, and take control of counting.

And, you can use a metronome to help you achieve target goals for tempos or to discover sections that need more focused practicing.

Another crucial use of metronomes is to train your muscles to play without making mistakes. By setting the click at an excruciatingly slow speed, you can catch potential mistakes before they even happen and play accurately!

Many musicians need to be more creative with their metronomes. Using a metronome to do more than simply click quarter notes can keep your practicing fresh and help you learn faster than ever!

3 Essential Metronome Strategies

These three metronome tricks will instantly improve your practicing:

STRATEGY #1: Subdivide
Modern metronomes can subdivide accurately for you, and it’s great to hear eighth notes, sixteenth notes, or triplets when you need them. Be sure to use these settings on your metronome, not only for learning songs but also for taking complete control of the exact locations of subdivisions in beats.

Your goal is to accurately play any subdivision at any time. For instance, you’ll have a lot more confidence if you know you can accurately play the “ee of 3” or the “uh of 4” in a sixteenth note subdivision.

STRATEGY #2: Use Silence
You can also have your metronome click less frequently than quarter notes, forcing you to fill in the other beats mentally. Here are a few options:

• For music in four, set the metronome to click only on beats 1 and 3.
• Another idea for music in four is to set clicks only on beats 2 and 4 (the backbeats in pop music).
• For music in three, have the metronome click only the downbeat. You’ll need to count and feel the other beats.
• Also for music in three: (1) have the click only on beat 2, (2) have the click only on beat 3, or (3) have clicks on beats 2 and 3 only.
• Silence specific beats or subdivisions so you’re only hearing some of the clicks in a bar. There are even metronome apps that have a “random” setting to do this for you. Not only is this a lot of fun, but it also forces you to count more diligently than ever before!

STRATEGY #3: The Disappearing Click
A wonderful metronome technique is the “Disappearing Click.” If you’re playing something in four with a lot of eighth notes, for example, start by setting the metronome to click 8th notes. Next, set a click of quarter notes. Then, give yourself a click only on beats 1 and 3. Finally, set the metronome to click only on the downbeat.

This strategy works best when you’re looping a single pattern over and over. If you have a one-bar pattern, you’ll get the chance to play it many times while you’ll have to keep your thinking clear.

You’ll continue to count 8th notes to play accurately, but your reference will slowly disappear! I can tell you from personal experience and from seeing other musicians attempt this strategy: This is a true game-changer for your ability to control time.

Be Creative and Have Fun!

All three of the strategies above help you learn to control time better. By mixing and matching the strategies, you also get to the point where you are not dependent on the metronome for playing evenly.

Whether you’re using my strategies or developing ones on your own, have fun using your metronome. Come up with creative ways to use this valuable tool, and you’ll change the way you think about your music.

And, though I’ve been saying “metronome” in this Practice Tip, I’m clearly not talking about old mechanical metronomes with a weighted pendulum arm rocking back and forth. I’m not even talking about older electronic metronomes that can only click the beat.

What I’m really talking about are the most current, advanced digital tools and apps available for musicians today. Some of these tools allow you to custom program any click pattern you need, including mixed meters.

New music technologies are being developed constantly, and I encourage you to try them. These powerful applications make learning and mastery faster than ever before in human history. If you’re not already using advanced technology in your music life, give it a try!

To Your Musical Success!
David Motto