Hey Friend,

So how did the clapping exercise go yesterday? We’re you able to even out your timing with the metronome?

Of course, this isn’t a skill you practice one time and you’re done. Timing is one of those things that consistent, daily practice will continue to help improve.

Okay, 80 BPM should be pretty manageable for most folks. What’s next?

Climbing the steps of progress, you can expand on the timing practice by picking up your guitar and either strumming a chord or plucking a note on each beat. 

Again, the goal is to line each strum up with the beat so that they occur at the same exact time. 

Not as simple as it sounds, right?

You don’t have to continuing practicing at this tempo until it’s perfect.

In fact, I encourage you NOT to stay on the same tempo.

I want you to practice this skill-building technique at different tempos. On one day, practice at a faster speed, say 120 BPM. The next day, slow it way down to 60 BPM. 

Then take a day and build up the tempos in increments. Start at 70 BPM for a minute, then increase to 80 BPM. Up it to 90, then 100 BPM, practicing at that tempo for a minute.

If you do one of these exercises for 5 minutes every day for a month, you’ll be amazed at how much your timing improves!

I know this isn’t a very exciting exercise, but there are a lot of things (most tasks) we have to do during the day that don’t heat up our blood.

That doesn’t mean we don’t do ‘em, though. 

Learning guitar isn’t just about picking up a bunch of miscellaneous techniques and riffs you can pull out when you need them. It’s more about learning and integrating these techniques into the skill set you already have.

When you’re starting out, you begin slowly gaining the skills. As you improve, your ability to add new skills gets easier. 

There’s an exponential factor in effect here. But you have to build a foundation, and this takes time and practice.

If you invest the time into honing your rhythmic chops and making your playing super tight, that skill can open some serious doors in the music community. 

So don’t cheat yourself - do these exercises!

Peace

Dave