Practice
A metronome keeps your timing honest and shows your progress in numbers you can see. Here’s what I look for in one, the app I use practically every day, what to know if you’d rather have a separate metronome, and tips from three guitar teachers I asked about how they use theirs.
What I Look For in a Metronome
I’ve owned and tried a lot of metronomes over the years. These are the things that make a metronome work for me in practice:
- A swinging pendulum motion, real or lit up. Seeing the swing helps me anticipate where the next beat will land.
- A big dial I can reach to change the tempo while I’m practicing.
- A volume control, and enough volume to hear over the guitar.
- A pleasant click. I’m pretty particular about the tone, since I’ll be listening to it for a while.
- Tap tempo, so I can tap in the beat of an exercise or a song.
My Pick: A Metronome App
Pro Metronome
Free to start
I thought I was one of those people who would always prefer a physical metronome over a phone app. I was wrong. Pro Metronome, by EUMLab, is about as close to everything I could want in a metronome. One of the guitar teachers at my music school recommended it to me.
It’s big and bold on the screen, it has a lighted pendulum that gives the swinging motion I like, and it even has a graphic version of the big dial. There’s a tap button for tapping in the beat, and if the standard click isn’t the right tone for you, there are other sounds to choose from.
The app is free to download, with paid upgrades if you want more features. The free version has been plenty for me. I still use it practically every day, on my iPhone and, most often, on my iPad Mini.
What I like
- A large dial for changing speed and for stopping and starting.
- A clear, swinging pendulum.
- Tap tempo.
- It’s always with me, because it’s on my phone and my iPad, and there are no batteries to buy.
- Lots of click sounds to choose from.
What I don’t like
- You need a smartphone or tablet. It’s available for iPhone, iPad and Android.
- Most phones and tablets don’t stand up on their own, so you’ll want a small stand to prop yours up at the right angle.
Where to get it
If You’d Rather Have a Separate Metronome
For years I recommended two small electronic metronomes here: the Wittner MT-60, the one I used most, and the Korg MA-1. Both have since been discontinued.
Korg’s current version of the MA-1 is the MA-2. Its display has a needle that swings left and right with the beat, it has tap tempo, and it adds a reference tone for tuning. When you shop for any metronome, take the list above with you.
What About a Wind-Up Metronome?
The traditional mechanical metronome is large, simple to read and straightforward to use, and some come in beautiful wood cases. For my taste it’s too big and bulky. You have to be careful not to overwind the spring, and the tempo can be off if it isn’t sitting on a level surface. One of the teachers below also found the mechanical ones he tested inaccurate at slow tempos, around 40 to 50 BPM.
Tips From Fellow Guitar Teachers
Rather than give you only my opinion, I asked some friends and colleagues, accomplished guitarists and teachers, how they use a metronome and what they’d tell a student.
“Turn it up loud! If you can’t play along with it in the beginning, try clapping to it, then add your foot. After that, try and do your foot on the quarter note and clap the upbeat. Then try and play an open string on your guitar to it.”
Alex Doty, guitarist and guitar instructor
“I recommend using the metronome to practice scales, gradually increasing the tempo until [you] can’t go any faster, then trying the tempo one step beyond, and then going back to [the] last tempo. This way, the student will find that his original limit now feels more comfortable.”
Dan Maya, guitarist, recording artist and instructor
Sean Williams likes apps with a “phrase trainer,” which raises the tempo by itself, say 5 BPM every 8 bars, so you can keep playing a riff or chord change without stopping to reset the metronome.
“Whatever I’m doing with the metronome, I always try to be creative and make sure I’m using it as a tool to develop my own sense of time rather than using it as a crutch to keep my rhythm together.”
Sean Williams, guitar instructor
Where To Go From Here
Once you have a metronome, here’s how to use a metronome for guitar practice, including when to practice without it. If you want to play along with a recording, here’s how to find the BPM of a song.
Which metronome do you use? Let me know in the comments below.
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Hey
Tomas i think you really a Guitar specialist.Awesome post.
I also like your guitar and style.
Thanks Samuel.
Liked the information!!!!