metronome question

ed5706@aol.com

Blues Newbie
For examples 21 through 26, how do you set the metronome for the triplets and sixteenth notes. The cd example is too short to play over and over. Am I supposed to hear a click on each note or play 3 notes to each click?
 

Silicon Valley Tom

It makes me happpy to play The Blues!
For the triplet you play three notes on each click.  Be sure you have a smooth technique using down, up, down for each triplet.  How you hold the pick is important.  You should have a smooth, short stroke and as always, start slow, master what you are doing and then increase the speed. 

Tom
 

ed5706@aol.com

Blues Newbie
Thanks, I'm able to play the triplets with the example, but I need more practice where I go up and down the scale. I'm not sure about the settings on my metronome, seems like I can set it for 3 clicks per beat, but I wasn't sure that was the best way to do it.
 

GuitarGeorge

Blues Newbie
For the triplet you play three notes on each click.  Be sure you have a smooth technique using down, up, down for each triplet.  How you hold the pick is important.  You should have a smooth, short stroke and as always, start slow, master what you are doing and then increase the speed. 

Tom

I have been using strictly alternate picking on this as well as all others, just changing the timing without changing the picking pattern.
 

Mr.Scary

A Blues Legend in My Own Mind
i use 120bpm for 1/8 notes
         180bpm  for triplets
           240 bpm for 1/16  notes

It's easier for me to keep up if I hear a beat for each note if that makes sense.
 

Shoopdude

Blues Newbie
Peterson BodyBeatSync
Try one of these metronomes it will break down the subdivisions of what your doing. I have never looked back once I got one. This will do what you asking without a lot of math....lol
 

Paleo

Student Of The Blues
You don’t change the setting on your metronome. You just mentally subdivide the time between clicks differently. Griff does the entire course at 60 BPM.

One note per click=quarter notes. 1-2-3-4.
Two notes per click=eighth notes. 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and
Four notes per click=16th notes. 1 e and a 2 e and a, etc.
Three notes per click = triplets 1 and a 2 and a 3 and a.

Things get faster as you go along because you play more notes per beat, not because you increase the tempo.

If you reset your metronome to higher tempos and still play one note per click, your counting doesn’t change. You are just playing the same thing as faster speeds. Griff could just give us an exercise and say “OK, now just play it faster and faster”. He would only have to print it once.

But each exercise is written out 3 times. The notes are the same. The tempo stays the same. But the subdivisions of the beat get smaller, leading to more notes per measure, which you actually have to play faster.

Again, if you change your metronome to faster tempos and play one note per click, you are not playing different note values. You are just playing the same thing at faster speed. You are not counting subdivisions within beats.

You don’t have to be with Griff very long to realize he’s adamant about owning the beat and being able to count. That’s why he stresses timing at the very beginning of this course and never changes the tempo throughout all the exercises. It’s the counting that changes, not the tempo.

Think about this. What would you do when you encounter quarter, 8th and 16th notes in the same passage? You can’t reset your metronome each time you encounter a different value note. Time marches on. The tempo doesn’t change. You have to be able to mentally subdivide the beat and change your counting to accommodate the different notes.

If you need to actually hear something on the subdivision of a beat, you can find metronomes that actually play subdivisions. For example, it might play a loud click on 1, and different sounds on the subdivisions. Or provide drum tracks that do the same. But you still would keep the tempo the same from one exercise to the next. The notes would just fall on different subdivisions
 

JestMe

Student Of The Blues
Well put Paleoblues

The exercise actually consists of 3 components. Note patterns, picking technique and subdividing the beat. If you change the metronome so that it cleacks for every note played you will not get the benefit of drilling to subdivide the beat.

I'm just starting on this course... IMHO the drill and exercises within the course are useful for long term usage... like even forever! You could develop several routines from this course and play a few each day or every time you pick up a guitar.
 
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