How to Get Better at Timing on the Guitar
Timing is one of the key elements a guitarist must master to become a talented and fluid musician. Even the best guitarists have off-days, where they lose timing or mess up during live performances. But because they have practiced and received the proper training, audience members do not often notice when a mistake is made. There are several things you can do to perfect your guitar-playing and impress friends, family members and fans.
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Instructions
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Use a metronome to set the speed of your playing when you practice alone. Start with a slow setting and gradually increase the speed as you become comfortable playing.
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Play one note or chord each time the metronome clicks. This strumming pattern is used in real music, but not as often as other patterns. The purpose for doing this is to grasp a concept for timing. Count out loud while you play as well. Many metronomes are set in 4/4 timing -- the first count of four counts will be louder than the rest. So, say "1, 2, 3, 4" over and over as the metronome clicks.
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Incorporate patterns with which you are familiar and new patterns as you become comfortable with single strumming and note-playing. Continue to use the metronome.
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Practice playing without the metronome once you are confident that you will not speed up or slow down.
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Do not sing while practicing guitar timing. This is one of the biggest mistakes new guitarists make. They believe that knowing a few chords and some lyrics will make them great song performers, but they often lose rhythm and timing since putting the two together is harder than it seems on many songs.
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Practice every day. Your teachers, books and the Internet will all tell you this. It is an inescapable part of learning music. If you truly want to master timing, you may have to set apart a few months just to practice one technique or strumming pattern, depending on how quickly you learn musical information.
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Listen to songs and recordings to get new ideas and expand your horizons. Imitate other playing styles to increase your ability as a guitar player.
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Play in a band, volunteer at a church, jam with musical friends or put yourself in any other setting that involves a collective of musicians playing together, especially if these musicians are older and more experienced than yourself. They will have a lot of information to teach you and they will point out specific areas where you need to improve after hearing you play in person.
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Tips & Warnings
All bands and musicians that play without a "click," or hidden metronome, vary their playing speed constantly. Since they are good at timing, however, these variations are unnoticeable.
It is acceptable to play a single chord on the guitar to keep your pitch if your focus for a particular session is to practice singing.
Contrary to popular Internet claims, it is impossible to become a great guitar player overnight. While you can learn the basics and become a decent player fairly quickly, you will spend years of your life trying to fully grasp and understand any instrument, and you will never stop learning.
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