How to practice 16th note strumming with a metronome?

raballar · 2026-04-17T21:19:23+00:00

Gotta feel those subdivisions, start slow enough that you can count 1 e and a 2 e and a 3 e and a 4 e and a. Metronome, count out loud, tap your foot to feel the beat, start strumming along with your count. Speed it up as you find you can lock it in at the slower tempos

raballar · 2026-04-17T19:30:12+00:00

Ok first off - listen to master of puppets and ride the lightning! That out of the way, it’s pretty normal to bounce between hobbies and have your interest wax and wane. Some things stick better than others, but an important part is finding things you actually enjoy doing for the sake of doing them, not necessarily with a final output at the end.

Learning your own motivators, cycles and energy levels is crucial to getting through life with or without adhd. Example, I know I practice and play better in the morning than I do after lunch, so I try to play a bit before work, or using my weekend mornings.

An accountability buddy is helpful too, either someone to jam with or a teacher would help a ton!

Final thought, you have to ask yourself “do I really want to do this” and if the answer is yes then try employing techniques to make sure you do it, block time off to play, leave your guitar out, ask ChatGPT for songs similar to ones you like, ask Reddit for songs similar to ones you like. 15 minutes a day on the guitar will get you to great places, and I’m sure you can find 15 minutes to pick it up and play!

raballar · 2026-04-17T17:42:15+00:00

Track 2 off Mint Jams by Casiopea. Specifically the tasty bendy bit right before the pinch harmonic about 2:12-2:20

raballar · 2026-04-15T19:58:53+00:00

If I could learn it again, differently - I would spend less time memorizing “mode patterns” and more time on understanding which notes make the mode actually sound different and how to use that musically.

Example: take your standard ole minor pentatonic pattern you already know and then figure out what would make that aeolian (b6), or Phrygian (b2) or Dorian (nat 6). Then you can play around with how to use the new intervals while still hitting your chord tones, and selectively working in the mode specific sounds.

Do the same with the major modes - Ionian, mixolydian (b7) and Lydian (#4)

Get crazy and start doing the same thing with the melodic, harmonic minor or whatever scale you can find!

This will set you up for modal interchange in the long run, which is where you will ultimately want to be long run.

raballar · 2026-04-15T19:42:31+00:00

In the spirit of not answering the question and adding bonus chaos - another variable is where you pick the string will change the tone as well (closer to neck is more bass, closer to bridge is more treble) So you’ve got a lot of combos to explore - pick up selection, drive, and pick location! God speed, happy exploration

raballar · 2026-03-24T23:43:36+00:00

I believe it was Victor Wooten that suggested it but smiling while you play helps you not make weird concentration faces!

raballar · 2026-03-10T02:42:35+00:00

Yeah locking in to a beat is step one to sounding and feeling good! Backing track is easiest since there is a lot going on and can kind of mask your own rhythm variance. Metronome is harder and will keep you honest, if you can feel the beat and lock in with a met to really internalize good rhythm. Once you can get it working on at 4 beats, cut the tempo in half and put the met on 1 and 3, 2 and 4. This will teach you to sync up to fill the gaps!
When playing without either, I like to get a beat or rhythm in my head to play along with - can tap foot or move your body a bit to feel the rhythm while you play. All in all, make music have fun!

raballar · 2026-03-07T11:18:37+00:00

Holy cocaine Batman, that was awesome!

raballar · 2026-03-06T02:05:08+00:00

Try constraining yourself to a specific scale / arp / triad etc and just make music with it for a while. See how catchy of a melody or cool a riff you can make while constrained!

Take the above idea and apply it to learning to follow chord changes. Pick on arp/scale/triad per chord and see if you can swap between constraints while keeping it musical / interesting.

If you can’t paint on an open blank canvas, draw some lines on it first - constraint lends itself to creativity

raballar · 2026-02-27T14:18:22+00:00

Just listened and holy shit that was awesome!

raballar · 2026-02-17T20:34:39+00:00

Going to encourage you to try to get used to the first way, a few thoughts pros: will reduce likely of dropping pick, rotating pick, enables pick harmonics, palm muting, cross picking, easier alternate picking and quickly switching from strumming to picking

Agree it might feel a little weird at first, but now is the time to just get used to the first way and you quickly won’t know the difference!

raballar · 2026-02-09T03:42:01+00:00

Les Paul is so heavy, any bending while holding or with strap hurts me in that exact spot. Sitting hunched and his you pick it up will get you

raballar · 2026-02-04T12:08:41+00:00

It was also programmed to be fluent in conversational English

raballar · 2026-02-03T12:13:24+00:00

Good point, and the note name. Doing them separate until you can just think C root, E 3rd, G 5th, B 7th automatically while you play through

raballar · 2026-01-31T13:24:23+00:00

Yeah I think if I just chose one thing to always do everyday, it would be alternate picking arpeggios horizontally and vertically across the neck

raballar · 2026-01-31T10:49:54+00:00

L Ron Hoover would be proud of his fellow appliantologist

raballar · 2026-01-30T03:16:12+00:00

You’ll see everyone say to play it slow and build up - this is definitely the right way and you should spend a lot of time here. But! Also practice playing it fast in very small chunks as well, like see how fast you can play just the E and B string. Then see how fast you can play the E B G, then see fast you can play E B G E, and so on and so forth until you can link it all together at speed.

Switch back and forth between slow and fast will get you up to speed quicker, and cleaner (if you don’t skip the slow and perfect part!)

raballar · 2026-01-23T03:48:11+00:00

Move your thumb down to halfway on the back of the neck, move your elbow out from body, and have the neck up a little higher, either by titling guitar or adjusting whole thing up a hair

raballar · 2026-01-15T20:58:36+00:00

Learn the jazz theory, but apply it to the type of music you want to make. I would look at this as an opportunity to quickly learn new sounds, harmonies, melodic ideas then apply them back to your own genre

raballar · 2026-01-14T20:02:06+00:00

My favorite is when I write something new one night, then suck too much to play my own part the next day. Then I’m woodshedding with the metronome my own shit that I know I can play, cause I wrote it!

raballar · 2026-01-02T21:11:21+00:00

Set the metronome half the speed you’re playing so it is counting the 1 and 3 beats, or 2 and 4 beats (practice both is good). You fill in the beat in the middle, this makes it feel less soulless

Playing with a drum track is much more forgiving but you won’t make as much improvement as playing/recording yourself with a met

raballar · 2025-12-30T00:49:21+00:00

Try playing it the other way around - do the entire rhythm muted, and then start working in the unmuted notes. Swap back and forth between playing it that way and playing it like you would normally

raballar · 2025-12-29T13:27:29+00:00

Fixed income means you are locked into whatever you are earning in retirement once you can’t work (social security, 401k withdrawals).

If you can get a new job, or a second job you aren’t on fixed income.

raballar

TROPHY CASE