Would this work?

[Crumbles]

Im not a great guitar player, and I can't really play to a metronome. Could I do my guitar parts as MIDI, then play along to the MIDI track, then delete the MIDI, leaving the audio? Or is there some reason why this wouldn't work? Any response, besides "Learn to use a metronome" would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ermghoti]

No reason why it wouldn't work, except that if your timing is unsteady enough for a metronome to reveal flaws, a MIDI file will do the same thing.

Download some backing tracks for songs you already know, and see.

 

[Crumbles]

No reason why it wouldn't work, except that if your timing is unsteady enough for a metronome to reveal flaws, a MIDI file will do the same thing.

Download some backing tracks for songs you already know, and see.

Thanks. I know my timing's better with the MIDI because I can play along to Guitar Pro. It's just something about the click that I can't seem to pick up.

 

[Massive Master]

Double the speed of the click.

 

[daav]

Pick up one of the many free (or buy fruity loops or reason or something similiar) drum machine software programs, take a bit of time and get used to them and build basic drum tracks to play to, especially if you switch it up a bit for the different parts of the songs (add a few cymbal crashes, different beats for the chorus and verses, etc). THis will help you learn the structure of the tunes better and will be easier to play to than a click, and i imagine easier than programming guitar parts in midi.

Daav

 

[Dani Pace]

A click seems to annoy a lot of people, myself included. I know my timming isn't perfect so I need something to keep me on time. Instead of just using a click I use my keyboard rythm section and change the click to a tambourine or cow bell or whatever effect seems most appropreate for the song. The trick to using a metronome or click of any kind is to learn to play along with it, not to it. Just think of the click as another band member (with perfect timming.) A click is just a tool, use it right and it will make your job much easier, use it wrong and it will make your job much harder. Sometimes setting the tempo to half or double the normal speed will help, try both and try changing the sound from a simple click to something you feel comfortable playing along with.

 

[Ian_Mac]

I had terrible timing - some say I still do... but recently I've been playing with drum loops in the background and I've realised quite how bad it was... get louder = speed up!

It's definitely worth learning to play with a timing device... I find it helps to turn the volume up on the metronome higher as I'm concentrating on my guitar playing and ignore it otherwise...

Good luck, stick with it, and I agree on the drum loops thing... they're much less annoying.

Ian

 

[KonradG]

accenting the 1's of a 4/4 metronome help me, you can do it on most programs. being able to play to a metronome is important in my mind, especially if you dont live with a drummer (thank god for drumming brothers, except when you have a headache). BUT, when hes not around, i find it easy to accent the first of every four clicks, which for some reason keeps me mentally on the same track as the metronome.

 

[Arrowhen]

accenting the 1's of a 4/4 metronome help me, you can do it on most programs.

Or you could try accenting the 2's and 4's, and hear them as snares. Or double the speed of the metronome and accent the 3's, which will approximate hi-hat 8th notes plus snares.

Personally, I can't play with a metronome for crap. I do much better with drum loops, which seems a more "realistic" way of practicing anyway.