How To Practice With A Metronome

Bassist Bob DeBoo demonstrates the most effective way to use the metronome to improve your time and feel on any instrument.
Check out the new Mastering Rhythm course with Bob DeBoo, Christian McBride, Peter Martin and more! - openstudiojazz.link/rhythm
Explore Open Studio, the #1 online jazz community: openstudiojazz.com

[@BMerker]

Interesting exercise, and interesting concept: sort of letting the metronome accompany you (by shifting your time relation to it), rather than the usual stance of "following the metronome".

[@bobdeboo8549]

Absolutely! It's like we're inviting the metronome to play with us, instead of the other way around.

[@hilliardgreene8567]

This was excellent! When I started to use my metronome from 120 bpm to between 40 - 60 bpm my timing improved so much that I keep saying to myself "I wished I had done this thirty years earlier."

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

True confessions. I was always the one that clapped like the idiot and musicians would scowl at me. But I was born with two left ears and never thought about music. Bought a piano after my retirement and now trying to make up for lost time...or should I say timing? Great lesson, and can't wait to try it out.

[@keffinmckn3602]

This is an example of an excellent teacher. Talentoso

[@sweetoldetc]

What I usually do us start the metronome in multiples of 4 and cut the metronome tempo by half when I get comfortable at the current speed. So I start with 64BPM with the click on 2 and 4, then 32BPM with click on beat 4, 16BPM at click on beat 4 every to measures, and so on. You can keep going down until you have one click on every 16, 32 measures..etc. I find that this is a really good exercise to keep your internal time steady without having to rely on metronome to tell you where the beat is. It really exposes your tendencies to rush or drag because you don't have the constant clicks to keep you in check.

[@apointb2260]

Guy became so good the metronome started following him for tempo

[@Wanielyo]

Bob De-Badass masterclass!

[@michaelfoxbrass]

Outstanding lesson, Bob! Thanks! My trumpet students will be introduced to it this week!

[@bobdeboo8549]

Thank you Michael. Truly hope it is helpful 🙏

[@mikegreene7883]

Great exercise

[@caramajaka]

Very smart use of a metronome.

[@bobdeboo8549]

Thanks

[@cwestmont]

Glad to see Open Studio release a rhythm class - that will be my Christmas present to myself!

[@drstrange629]

Fn Fantastic! What a great teacher! - Etienne

[@TheHallsofMusic]

Thanks for the introduction to this philosophy of time. I just started taking jazz, guitar lessons and am interested deepening my understanding of time. This video is the perfect introduction into what is now going to be a new element of daily study.

[@bobdeboo8549]

Thanks for watching 🙂

[@RochelleM491]

Very good presentation, love the concept…!

[@yefreman_musica]

wow!... just wow! thank you Bob.

[@ZipTown]

Thanks so much! That is one good teacher there!

[@bobdeboo8549]

Thanks for watching and for the lovely comment ✌️

[@stumptownsculptor]

So simple and fun! Thanks!

[@Tocar_Tocando]

Great GPS to improve rhythm and time feeling! Thanks! 😊

[@BillRayDrums]

There's also a great video with a drummer named Chris Allison (from the band Plini) who will count the metronome on the "e" or "ah", or whichever part of whatever subdivision you choose, that isn't an "even" placement; it must be "odd". The trick is to verbally count the downbeat, using the "fixed" position of the metronome as your "level horizon" which keeps you in time.

[@bobdeboo8549]

I haven't seen that video (yet, on my way) but that's exactly the kind of stuff I'm trying to get at here! Thanks for that

[@Blackdogmountain]

Thank for these great tips!

[@Gk2003m]

I like this…. AND it’s crucial to also play quarter notes with the metronome. Note I did not say ‘to’ the metronome, but WITH. You want to not hear it click; your goal is to get your internal clock so solid that you are not relying on the click, but are actually making time with the click.

[@bobdeboo8549]

💯 agreement here 😃

[@tonyd3192]

Thank you! Fabulous exercise

[@agentstank2578]

Great lesson, thank you!

[@777leviandades]

lovely lesson, thanks

[@yakdothan]

Amazing! Super helpful!

[@zendobrendo0001]

This is super helpful and fun. The visual really helped here too.

[@jorgeguberte]

Perfect video for me, right up my alley. Thank you!

[@3684541]

Great video Bob!

[@RWKirby-gk7mk]

Brilliant Video and very useful concept Thanks

[@bradc32]

good one thx

[@6minus3minus2]

Really been working on my groove outside of the bass drum and this is very helpful.

[@CWBella]

Mind. Blown. This is a wonderful video with excellent suggestions on how to really dial in the rhythm. I was singing along and can hardly wait to try this out on the piano. Thanks, Bob!!

[@grantkoeller8911]

Really great video! I was playing right along with you on my 4 string acoustic guitar, tuned one octave lower, to standard bass tuning, for quiet personal practice.

[@paulygabe]

This is a great video Bob and a must for all musicians to have control and flexibility with time, feel and accuracy. Fantastic for getting your internal clock together.

[@caryheuchert]

Excellent concept! Thank you 🙏

[@akoolstik]

This is a great video. Thank you!

[@MrSiwat]

Great lesson. Thanks so much. Super ideas.

[@bill4all2c]

Awesome - I will definitely share this video with my student singers. Being a veteran drummer, it's truly invaluable...bravo!!!

[@maestro2033]

I found this vid to be very educational. I really enjoyed this 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@brendaboykin3281]

Thanks,Maestro.🌹🌹🌹🌹

[@bustabass9025]

Great to see you back with your double bass tutorials Bob. For whatever reason, I have not been notified of any of your new content in quite a while. As always, appreciate what you do. 👌🏾

[@bobdeboo8549]

Busta! Miss you from the live streaming days!! Thank you for watching, as always 🙏

[@colorfulwater5070]

Love it!

[@zimnochmusic]

Brilliant!

[@FunkOsax]

Excellent

[@pianoatthirty]

This is so brilliant

[@nialkelly7582]

Excellent tutorial! [and subscribed .. yep!] Jah Bless

[@grantkoeller8911]

Metronomes are great learning tools!!!!

[@philreid984]

"No they are not!" Jeff Berlin I'm fully kidding 🤣

[@grantkoeller8911]

@@philreid984 haha!! So funny!

[@pangeaproxima9446]

Really?

[@grantkoeller8911]

@@pangeaproxima9446 People who practice with a metronome have a better sense of time. It's proven.

[@chileanbusker]

Makes absolute sense, good sire! Tyty

[@lacloche649]

Thanks so much

[@cardboardmusic]

Love it, nice video (and explantion)! My teacher used to make me do this (I'm a saxophonist), but he'd make it really difficult by asking me to play Monk's "Blue Monk" over those triplet shifts. Naturally, it got more and more difficult with different tunes and then different subdivisions over several bars.

[@bobdeboo8549]

Yes indeed! Next level... might have to demonstrate over tunes next time. Trying to keep it 'simplistic'... thanks for watching!

[@jazzdbess8304]

That bass sound great Bob

[@sirfultonbishop]

That was fun! 👍🏽

[@richardlepre4821]

Thank you so much, as a bass player this is life changing

[@bobdeboo8549]

🙏

[@TheBinaryWolf]

Mina's artistic performance of "No, no, no" is especially impressive for her ability to keep perfect time at a very slow tempo...so challenging to keep time at very slooooow speed.

[@gisellechacon7081]

A real paradigm shift. A very groovy exercise!😄 Sorry, couldn't resist! Great lesson, thanks!

[@bobdeboo8549]

Thanks for watching! #groovy 😃

[@redstrat1234]

Amazing

[@davidecariani]

that was amazing! great lesson, short and effective! rythm is my weakest skill and i need to practice in this way!

[@bobdeboo8549]

Thanks for watching. Perhaps check out the new course this lesson comes from..."Rhythm Anthology" www.openstudiojazz.com/mastering-rhythm

[@jazzleebert2]

Genius concept of metronome use and excellent lesson! Matching a click dead on has been overvalued for too long.

[@bobdeboo8549]

Thanks and I totally agree

[@didierfouque9301]

Interesting exercises . The great french guitarist Sylvain Luc talked about this too in a video on YT. Thank you for sharing this.

[@charlexguitar]

I would call it metric subdivision with your instrument, great class, saludos!

[@nemo227]

I love to hear the bass notes resonate; the fat plum sound.

[@kylebrainpresents]

Holy shit this is so hard, skate board analogy is dead on

[@pickinstone]

Simple. I see a Bob DeBoo video from Open Studio, I watch the video. DUDE THE RHYTHM COURSE CAME OUT! BUY IT NOW! I just did. Good stuff! Thanks for finally making it happen, Open Studio. Bob DeBoo is in the course! You know you wanna buy it now. Oh, did I mention that Melissa Aldana also has a killer lesson in the course? Sean Jones? Alexa Tarantino? Hutch? Lubambo? They are ALL THERE! Don't take my word for it ;)

[@bobdeboo8549]

Thanks Pickinstone! Finally the rhythm course is out!

[@mecdrum7]

Being a drummer always when practicing with exercises with metronome

[@BillRayDrums]

As a drummer, I sometimes "go the other way" and set it to ridiculously slow tempos (my metronome goes down to 20, I'm trying to find one that goes down to 4) and work on my internal subdivisions.

[@richardpictures]

Pro Metronome does 10bpm. Free too. Love that metronome. Can also set it to shut off for X amount of bars

[@bobdeboo8549]

Time Guru, which I'm using in this video, goes down to 5 bpm... and has a lot of the 'in-n-out' features mentioned in the comment below as well

[@bobdeboo8549]

... and I like getting as little as possible from the metronome as well... usually more like 15bpm

[@richardpictures]

@@bobdeboo8549 nice, thanks for the tip. Ill check that out. Yeah I hang out around 25 bpm these days. Thanks for spreading the good word about slow clicks. It almost feels like a secret sometimes. Deeply important to my time.

[@LiyoungMartin]

Hey that's my combo teacher, what's up Bob!!! Great video!

[@bobdeboo8549]

Yo LiYoung!!

[@LiyoungMartin]

@@bobdeboo8549 Hey!

[@eliassirvio2779]

whoah

[@skiphoffenflaven8004]

Kick butt

[@geejayg]

Cheers Bob there's more to this than just playing in time. Smart stuff in a deceptively simple practice exercise. What happens when you do this in a tune?

[@ethanwinograd]

bad ass.

[@dachanist]

This is a monster lesson. I'll be back.

[@alexandram9477]

head exploded again, thx!

[@georgeantonelis2863]

Pog vid gud shit

[@mrfokus901]

I have some really cool idea's and I'd love to share them with you guys. What do I need to do to reach out?

[@ExplorerAUDIO]

As I saw the video for the first time, it was an easy one for me to pull it of. But since then I just don't get the shift. Even if I'm delaying the bassline, I'm always landing on the one of the triplet again. Does anybody has a tip to pull it of? Seems like, just feeling it won't do it for me.

[@smartronome]

Team Pro Metronome👍

[@MS-iq4eo]

Thanks. Do you use a electronic metronome or a windup?

[@bobdeboo8549]

Hi. I use an app called 'Time Guru' pretty much exclusively

[@0000song0000]

can anyone recommend a stand alone metronome that can do slow 20 or 30 bpm?

[@bobdeboo8549]

Not sure 'stand alone' but i use "time guru" which can go down to 5bpm (which I've tried... nuts!)

[@murkdelasvegas6855]

Hi, Great ideas! Can you give examples of players or music which implement this on their music.

[@bobdeboo8549]

These are practice ideas, similar to weight training "off the field." If you're looking for metric modulation in the wild there are many references... such as Tony/Ron with Miles, or Tain/Hurst, and many, many more...

[@louisbrown02]

All over the place

[@bobdeboo8549]

True

[@mattf9076]

what scales can i use to solo over this in me right handy?

[@somedude-tr1mj]

Some possibilities (or mix/match): B flat major, B flat blues scale, B flat mixolydian. (a progression of I ii V I in B flat major sounds particularly "inside" over that bass)

[@nojuanatall3281]

The blues mixolydian hybrid scale is great for solos. Just going through the whole scale doesn't sound great but when you break it apart there are many different phrases and ways to utilize it.

[@charlesallan6978]

Set the metronome to 1BPM. Clap on the beat. The metronome is not actually silent. Impress your friends after getting them high first !

[@lundsweden]

Haha are you high?!

[@bobdeboo8549]

Lol. Facts.

[@NickWeissMusic]

Great concepts, Victor Wooten practices with one click on the and of 4. You wonder how these guys get that good....

[@theguitarnoobph]

Brain-splitting but fun!

[@justanothernguyen2334]

did he intentionally drag ahead a lil bit?

[@bobdeboo8549]

Yes - that's part of the exercise

[@Ustebegen]

why is your name an onomatopoeia of a standup bass playing jazz

[@bobdeboo8549]

Was born for this I guess...not a stage name 🙂

[@toddoliver168]

i usually put metronome on for bit then realize how shitty my time is and turn it off

[@bobdeboo8549]

Relatable comment. Definitely me for a number of years of my musical life. Keep at it!

[@PlatinumLemur]

KZbin just scared me by recommending this video. I swear it knows too much about me and what I want.. The moment I touch my bass..

[@lapegadura]

any pdf of this? i just dont get it

[@bobdeboo8549]

not at the moment, but I feel like the onscreen graphics kind of fill that role

[@mecdrum7]

I’ve got 4 different types of metronome

[@stretchbatchelor]

All that bokeh groove...

[@bobdeboo8549]

Stretch!!!

[@tonyprost5575]

you keep talking about "triplets"???

[@GastonSimonMusic]

I thought this was Andrew t8

[@alanhaynes418]

What have you got against quarter notes? Music wouldn't be the same without them.

[@G_Demolished]

He’s not saying don’t play quarter notes. He’s saying don’t just think of the metronome clicks as exclusively quarter notes. Spacing the clicks further apart forces you to engage your internal metronome. At least that’s what I took from it.

[@bobdeboo8549]

@@G_Demolished thank you🙏 that's all I'm trying to do... and my example is all 1/4 notes by the way

[@jazzman1954]

They are not quarter notes. They are crotchets. What happens in 3/4? It’s a poor use of language.

[@bobdeboo8549]

Quarter notes have the same meaning to me in 3/4 time. It's perhaps a difference in geographical location because if I used the term "crochets" here in St. Louis in a rehearsal my musical partners would not know what I mean...

[@jazzman1954]

@@bobdeboo8549 Yeh, I know. It’s an Americanism….and generally it’s not an issue for me but in this case it’s just plain illogical.

[@davidmadison9369]

Ha! He’s using a classic black gospel shout lick bass line. All good American music goes back to the black church at some point. 😂😂😂

[@bobdeboo8549]

Good point, and no disagreement here David! Pretty much all the music I play is Black American Music, or has roots in it! #BAM

[@mikem668]

Makes sense? Nope. I not saying it's easy to explain or do? In fact, I know it's hard to do because I've been trying to do it at 40. It's like getting up on a skateboard? Sure. Which is why videos using words or a metronome to learn to ride a skateboard are equally useless.

[@bobdeboo8549]

Do you Mike! I'm just trying to share some stuff that I like to practice that seems honest. I agree 100% with your experiential sentiment here, by the way.

[@mikem668]

@@bobdeboo8549 I apologize. I was just frustrated. I'm sure there's value in your knowledge and experience, but while I understood the words in theory, I couldn't connect them immediately your playing and the metronome. It felt like information overload. I would have benefited from a slower more methodical introduction. Almost everyone finds it difficult to play with metronome at first, especially at slow tempos. And while I'm a guitar player (and banjo, though I started on the trumpet) I don't really play jazz - other than something like a T Bone Walker jump blues - but I've listened to a tons of jazz from the early 20s to the 80s. So it seems I should have been able to grasp it. That said, the KZbin algorithm suggested it, and I thought it would be helpful. Who knows, maybe I'll try it and something will click. Again, sorry. I didn't mean to trash your effort.

[@bobdeboo8549]

@@mikem668 took no offense Mike! appreciate your thoughts and i hear you

[@whatilearnttoday5295]

Stop practising with a metronome. Just stop.

[@bobdeboo8549]

that's the next step! we're talking about "time" here, not "feel" by the way. Having solid "time" is crucial, just like having a good "feel" is - but they are not the same thing!

[@vinigretzky97]

Would've been cool if it was cut to always keep the metronom going without skips. But nice video, even as a former drummer I never practiced in this way.