Practice guides

How to use a metronome so it actually helps, how rhythm perception works, and what to practise in what order for guitar, piano and drums.

  • Click tracks for recording

    A click makes editing possible, and used carelessly it drains the life out of a take.

    Read the guide
  • Is rhythm innate?

    Hearing a beat is not passive reception; it is continuous prediction.

    Read the guide
  • Seven common metronome practice mistakes

    Most plateaus are habits rather than talent ceilings.

    Read the guide
  • A 30-minute drum metronome routine

    When the snare sits exactly on the click, the click seems to vanish underneath it.

    Read the guide
  • A 30-minute piano metronome routine

    The tempo where evenness collapses is today's ceiling, and that is useful information.

    Read the guide
  • A 30-minute guitar metronome routine

    Deciding in advance what to practise saves roughly half of the practice time.

    Read the guide
  • Building speed

    Speed is not the product of repetition; it is the product of accurate repetition.

    Read the guide
  • Practising with subdivisions

    If the space between beats is empty, nothing that happens in there is being checked.

    Read the guide
  • BPM by genre

    The number is only a starting point, but a starting point saves a great deal of time.

    Read the guide
  • Reading time signatures

    The top number says how many, the bottom says of what. Most confusion dissolves right there.

    Read the guide
  • How tap tempo is calculated

    Measure the gap and divide sixty by it — except human hands need one more layer.

    Read the guide
  • How to practise with a metronome

    Turning practice from chasing the click into finding where you and the click disagree.

    Read the guide