hey Kris,

For the past month or so I've been putting in some serious time with the metronome, but I haven't really seen any improvements. What is the proper way to increase speed?

Should I be trying to play at a BPM slightly above of what I can play cleanly, and play that until perfect?

that's what Ive been doing so far...

I usually dedicate an hour a day to the metronome
Here is the log of what I did yesterday:

0 - 5 minutes = Warm up:
- I start off with quarter notes (120 BPM) and slowly increase to Triplets, Eighth and sixteenth

5 - 20 minutes:
- I take a sixteenth note pattern and run up and down the Pentatonic scale
-90 BPM at start, and 130 BPM when finished

20 - 45 Minutes
- I noticed I need some work while descending on the high E and B string
- I played descending triplets on the High E, then continued the pattern to the B
- I played the pattern until comfortable, and then increased the BPM by 5
- I noticed that there was a point where I could play it perfectly, but if I added 5 BPM, it became really sloppy

-Started at 100 BPM and ended at 150 BPM

45 - 60 minutes

-I used the metronome to practice a piece I was currently working on
-I played a neo classical sixteenth note piece
-Started at 90 BPM and ended at 120 BPM

do you have any tips as to how to practice more efficiently?
anything would be greatly appreciated

thanks!

oh and I was wondering how much time you dedicate to the metronome
is an hour a day sufficient?

To be fair it looks like you've already got a pretty efficient way of practising right there. You don't dive it to it too fast which is good, but you seem to cover a lot which is good. I only really practise AP for an hour a day and I still notice improvement. I mean practise for as long as you want, and you will improve.

Hello Iron - yes I agree your routine looks thoroughly thought out!

This should absolutely give you progess with one hour per day - just stick to it!

One hour is enough to progress! Put more hours into it and you will notice progress quicker - but there is no right and wrong here, it all depends on what goal you have set.