•  Hit more than just the standard times (100, 112, 120, 132…). In doing this, you are increasing your sensitivity to time. You are teaching yourself to feel the difference between 110 and 112 instead of 110 and 120. A famous musician was quoted saying that “…no one plays truly ‘in tune’; the greats just catch it before others do.” The same is true for time. Increase your sensitivity to time and you will find yourself among those who can keep a great groove.
 
•  Rhythms are like harmonies…they need to be resolved. Let’s face it; syncopations scare a lot of musicians. More times than not, these syncopations end on an up-beat or another unfriendly count. Use the metronome to find and solidify the quarter note pulse in a syncopation. In doing this, you will find that you can play the rhythm more effectively. The metronome can also be used to resolve these syncopations which do not end on a downbeat. The more you can identify and feel the quarter note through rhythms of this nature, the more you will be able to master these difficult rhythms.
 
•  Try using the metronome in a creative way like setting it to a comfortable tempo and playing your favorite exercise or etude (only the click represents the upbeat). This method is common among drum set players where the click represents the hi-hat. After experimenting with this… try the same exercise with the click representing other notes of a subdivision (maybe ‘e’ or ‘a’ of a 16th note based exercise). Now you are getting creative with your use of the metronome. There are PLENTY of possibilities here, and I would suggest you explore as many as possible.

Once you have the hang of this, try playing an 8th note based exercises with triplets set on the metronome or vise versa to reinforce the common 2-over-3/ 3-over-2 polyrhythm. In doing so, you are not just playing to the metronome, you are playing with it!
 
• Rehearsing odd meters with a metronome one of the best ways to solidify time and feel. Try practicing 7/8 or 5/8 to a metronome and you will find that the quarter note falls on the beginning of the measure every 2 bars. Try practicing scales and other exercises to the quarter note and don’t shy away from the metronome when facing an odd meter.

Burying the Metronome

In order to be an effective musician, you need to be an effective listener. Learning how to accurately listen to the metronome is as important as learning how to accurately play with the metronome. Since the articulation of our instrument is often very short (referring to pads, and drums), and the chirp of the met is even shorter, mistakes and inaccuracies are often obvious. It seems that when you can hear the metronome and you are steady with it, everything is fine. Try this alternative approach to using the metronome…

•  Turn the volume of the metronome so that you can only hear it if you are not playing with it. Start with something simple such triplets or 16th notes at one height. Make sure every quarter note click is EXACTLY with the metronome (this is not as easy as it seems).

•  At this point, you should only hear the metronome when you are not EXACTLY with it. If you hear the sound of the metronome in front of your sound, you are too slow. If the sound of the metronome is behind your sound, you are too fast.

This concept is called burying the metronome and is a great step towards gaining a natural independence of time. After an amount of time devoted to crafting this concept, you will be able to make quicker, less noticeable, adjustments while playing. After applying this concept to a variety of musical and technical examples, you will find that your ability to feel time breathe (which is not necessarily a bad thing) has increased.

Now that your sensitivity to time is starting to increase, you can begin to develop a more commanding rhythmic approach to your music. Although these concepts are not the end-all approach to music (remember, music is the GOAL), they can be filed away in your arsenal of tools to becoming a better musician. Enjoy!