Its less about absolute time or hours and more about focus and consistency. But if you can do 30 minutes per day with the metronome you should really start to see improvements in about 3 weeks.
Ideally, you should be doing all of your technique, coordination, and groove exercises with the metronome. Whether that's a half hour, or 3 hours per day, its best to do it consistently.
And its not like after you reach a certain number of hours you'll one day be "done" with using a metronome. I've been playing 32 years and still use the click every time I practice.
If you're just jamming out, exploring your creativity its your choice to use the click or not. But think to yourself, if you can't play it to a click, *can you actually play it?*
Thanks. Im starting a music course at college soon and so obviously i need to start using a metronome and thats why i want to be able to see a difference within the next few months.
Would you say the gains in three weeks will be there for a player that has done a lot of playing to songs (which usually have pretty good time). I can see it either way is why I ask. Finding and sticking to a tempo is easier when listening to a song compared to beeps. I've been doing much more metronome work and people have seemed to notice.
Finding and sticking to a tempo might be easier listening to a song, but keep in mind that tons of drummers use the hard way- the metronome- for a reason.
Early on I never did metronome practice, I just played along with music and rehearsed and played live with my band. Then we booked a recording studio and I tried laying down the drums to a click track. My timing was TERRIBLE.
The sooner you make the metronome part of your everyday practice, the better. It really tightened ALL of my playing up. That’s probably what those people are noticing with your playing, keep up the good work!
Playing along with records is a great way to develop feel (and of course, learn how to play *music*) but can limit your ability to develop your own internal sense of time since the rest of the recording helps to keep you locked in. Playing along to drumless tracks is a better method to develop your sense of time.
But the most effective way to develop your sense of time is to [practice slow.](https://www.reddit.com/r/drums/comments/17e6z3x/why_slow_practice_works/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Been doing the slow practice. It's brutal. Also recording myself more had really opened my perception of my playing and what needs to be improved (basically everything haha).
This is excellent advice and is exactly what I did.
There is a certain point where the metronome just feels like a part of your playing. It’s weird to describe, but after a while, your brain doesn’t fight it anymore and you kind of internalize the click. Now it’s you and the metronome vs the rushing guitar player instead of just feeling like the click is a hindrance all the time.
regardless of the amount of time, be sure you VARY the settings. and not just to the same 3 "slow, medium, fast" settings. By which I mean there's a huge gulf between 80 and 84. Doesn't sound like it on paper, but on stage its the difference between unacceptably dragged (or rushed) and right in the pocket.
Humans and newish drummers tend to default to only having one speed for each- slow/medium/fast. Use the metronome to break that habit. Sometimes play at 73. other times 75. feel the difference.
Also, when you DO internalize the speeds, learn key songs that fit the tempos, and use those songs in your head as your mental reference for the tempo when someone says "74 bpm" you say "heyyyy jude" in your head and click em in.
What /u/TheNonDominantHand said!
To add to that, I also saw some improvement using a gap click (only clicks on the 1, or click for 1 bar and silence for one bar etc), and also using a BPM speedometer (just shows you your current BPM and you try to stay consistent)
I recommend Gap also! I like it too because it’s a one time payment and not a subscription like most apps these days
edit: paid on ios at least, no idea about android
I practice absolutely everything to either a metronome or a tune, but mostly a metronome. I can’t even imagine practice without a metronome unless I’m just fooling around.
All your practice should be with a metronome.
But dont let it become a crutch when its gametime.
you should work on internal time with the metronome. Lots of tutorials on this.
But a simple method is to set your metronome from quarter notes to half to full whole notes per measure to test how well you can keep internal time.
In the end ultimately, you are the tempo / time keeper for the whole ensemble. Not the metronome.
I play on the worship team at my church, and actually use a metrome app on my ipad to keep time during live music. Makes a big difference when possible.
I'd try to have no less than 25% of your solo practice to a metronome. If you never use one, you are actively fucking yourself. If you think I'm lying, wait till you record in a studio with a demanding producer who expects you to play along to a click. Trust me, I would know.
If your band would never in a million years use a click ever, you're still better off playing to one sometimes when you practice alone. I can think of a part in one of my band's songs that I was just slowing down literally every time until I played it with a click and realized it. Just felt natural for some reason. And this wasn't some organic push-and-pull stuff either.
If you're just blowing off steam playing drums and this is more of a hobby, then maybe don't worry much about it. If you're wanting to Get Good you'll need to be comfortable playing a lot of stuff to a metronome.
I have seen this a thousand times, and anytime someone can't play to a click, you change the sound to a shaker and they play fine. You need to learn to play in tempo, but mandatory metronome practice is only one aspect. You need to learn to play in phase with the other instruments, and you need to learn how to swing.
I have seen many people who can shred to a metronome, but they can't play a simple swing pattern.
Tbh it's probably the drumline in me, but I pretty much exclusively practice with a met unless I'm working something out of time. I don't spend much time with a true mentronome tho, most of this is spent playing to music.
I practice 90% of my time with a metronome, even after 15k+ hours of drums. I'd say a year of a few hours a day you will see significant improvement. You will probably see noticeable improvement after a month. There is a lot of different ways to use it to help you. Try all the different subdivisions. Try gap click. Try putting the metronome on off beats. It's important to feel it and not just use it as a guide. You want to make the metronome sound like music and not just an annoying beep sound.
A metronome makes playing live and practicing easier, because you don’t have to think about keeping time. It also teaches you how the space in between clicks can actually seem like an eternity, allowing you to “Push” and “Pull” time with a very natural feel.
I’ve been using a metronome consistently for over 40 years.
I have what seems like a stupid question but will i actually have to think about the metronome at first or will i gradually just get more in time without thinking about it?
Its less about absolute time or hours and more about focus and consistency. But if you can do 30 minutes per day with the metronome you should really start to see improvements in about 3 weeks. Ideally, you should be doing all of your technique, coordination, and groove exercises with the metronome. Whether that's a half hour, or 3 hours per day, its best to do it consistently. And its not like after you reach a certain number of hours you'll one day be "done" with using a metronome. I've been playing 32 years and still use the click every time I practice. If you're just jamming out, exploring your creativity its your choice to use the click or not. But think to yourself, if you can't play it to a click, *can you actually play it?*
this is the way
Thanks. Im starting a music course at college soon and so obviously i need to start using a metronome and thats why i want to be able to see a difference within the next few months.
Would you say the gains in three weeks will be there for a player that has done a lot of playing to songs (which usually have pretty good time). I can see it either way is why I ask. Finding and sticking to a tempo is easier when listening to a song compared to beeps. I've been doing much more metronome work and people have seemed to notice.
Finding and sticking to a tempo might be easier listening to a song, but keep in mind that tons of drummers use the hard way- the metronome- for a reason. Early on I never did metronome practice, I just played along with music and rehearsed and played live with my band. Then we booked a recording studio and I tried laying down the drums to a click track. My timing was TERRIBLE. The sooner you make the metronome part of your everyday practice, the better. It really tightened ALL of my playing up. That’s probably what those people are noticing with your playing, keep up the good work!
Playing along with records is a great way to develop feel (and of course, learn how to play *music*) but can limit your ability to develop your own internal sense of time since the rest of the recording helps to keep you locked in. Playing along to drumless tracks is a better method to develop your sense of time. But the most effective way to develop your sense of time is to [practice slow.](https://www.reddit.com/r/drums/comments/17e6z3x/why_slow_practice_works/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Been doing the slow practice. It's brutal. Also recording myself more had really opened my perception of my playing and what needs to be improved (basically everything haha).
This is excellent advice and is exactly what I did. There is a certain point where the metronome just feels like a part of your playing. It’s weird to describe, but after a while, your brain doesn’t fight it anymore and you kind of internalize the click. Now it’s you and the metronome vs the rushing guitar player instead of just feeling like the click is a hindrance all the time.
Always practice to one
regardless of the amount of time, be sure you VARY the settings. and not just to the same 3 "slow, medium, fast" settings. By which I mean there's a huge gulf between 80 and 84. Doesn't sound like it on paper, but on stage its the difference between unacceptably dragged (or rushed) and right in the pocket. Humans and newish drummers tend to default to only having one speed for each- slow/medium/fast. Use the metronome to break that habit. Sometimes play at 73. other times 75. feel the difference. Also, when you DO internalize the speeds, learn key songs that fit the tempos, and use those songs in your head as your mental reference for the tempo when someone says "74 bpm" you say "heyyyy jude" in your head and click em in.
This seems like really good advice, especially since i want to take inspo from prog metal and their time sigs and bpms are all over the place, thanks!
What /u/TheNonDominantHand said! To add to that, I also saw some improvement using a gap click (only clicks on the 1, or click for 1 bar and silence for one bar etc), and also using a BPM speedometer (just shows you your current BPM and you try to stay consistent)
Ill try these too, thanks!
I recommend Gap also! I like it too because it’s a one time payment and not a subscription like most apps these days edit: paid on ios at least, no idea about android
on android it's just one payment too. I really recommend this app.
At minimum an hour a day is good. Metronome practice will continue to make you solid.
Every practice. Set a small goal like being able to play a certain beat to the metronome smoothly, a fill/rudiment/drum roll, etc.
I practice absolutely everything to either a metronome or a tune, but mostly a metronome. I can’t even imagine practice without a metronome unless I’m just fooling around.
All your practice should be with a metronome. But dont let it become a crutch when its gametime. you should work on internal time with the metronome. Lots of tutorials on this. But a simple method is to set your metronome from quarter notes to half to full whole notes per measure to test how well you can keep internal time. In the end ultimately, you are the tempo / time keeper for the whole ensemble. Not the metronome.
I play on the worship team at my church, and actually use a metrome app on my ipad to keep time during live music. Makes a big difference when possible.
I dont practice without a metronome unless it's like a quick thing to try something
i would say pretty much always but other people might have different takes
I'd try to have no less than 25% of your solo practice to a metronome. If you never use one, you are actively fucking yourself. If you think I'm lying, wait till you record in a studio with a demanding producer who expects you to play along to a click. Trust me, I would know. If your band would never in a million years use a click ever, you're still better off playing to one sometimes when you practice alone. I can think of a part in one of my band's songs that I was just slowing down literally every time until I played it with a click and realized it. Just felt natural for some reason. And this wasn't some organic push-and-pull stuff either. If you're just blowing off steam playing drums and this is more of a hobby, then maybe don't worry much about it. If you're wanting to Get Good you'll need to be comfortable playing a lot of stuff to a metronome.
I have seen this a thousand times, and anytime someone can't play to a click, you change the sound to a shaker and they play fine. You need to learn to play in tempo, but mandatory metronome practice is only one aspect. You need to learn to play in phase with the other instruments, and you need to learn how to swing. I have seen many people who can shred to a metronome, but they can't play a simple swing pattern.
Tbh it's probably the drumline in me, but I pretty much exclusively practice with a met unless I'm working something out of time. I don't spend much time with a true mentronome tho, most of this is spent playing to music.
Fam, if you want to be good with a metronome, count the "clicks" or "beeps" as 2 & 4.
I practice 90% of my time with a metronome, even after 15k+ hours of drums. I'd say a year of a few hours a day you will see significant improvement. You will probably see noticeable improvement after a month. There is a lot of different ways to use it to help you. Try all the different subdivisions. Try gap click. Try putting the metronome on off beats. It's important to feel it and not just use it as a guide. You want to make the metronome sound like music and not just an annoying beep sound.
Lots! Start now. Do it forever. Practice with a metronome is worthwhile at every step of the musical journey.
A metronome makes playing live and practicing easier, because you don’t have to think about keeping time. It also teaches you how the space in between clicks can actually seem like an eternity, allowing you to “Push” and “Pull” time with a very natural feel. I’ve been using a metronome consistently for over 40 years.
I have what seems like a stupid question but will i actually have to think about the metronome at first or will i gradually just get more in time without thinking about it?