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Posted by: edguy Sep 18 2008, 04:15 PM

Hi guys I have a quick question

When you are playing sixteen notes with the Metronome and count 1 2 3 4 at which BPM you have to stop counting?

I only can count till 120 bpm but then my playing is very bad. At 140 BPM I have no chance to count 1234. (remember i talking about sixteen notes so 1/1234/2/1234/3/1234/4 hope you know what i mean:))

Edguy

Posted by: Chokehold Sep 18 2008, 04:19 PM

I'm not really sure about this but do you count them 1,2,3,4 in your head? if you are then i think you should stop it. but well, i'm quite new to guitar so don't trust me to much

Posted by: Pedja Simovic Sep 18 2008, 04:24 PM

Subdividing should always happen no matter what tempo is.

If 150 bpm is to fast to count 16th notes use a trick and count EIGHT NOTES instead. Its exactly the same thing just twice as slow , but you will still end up playing in time and steady !

Posted by: edguy Sep 18 2008, 04:25 PM

There are some lessons here from Kris where he say if you can count it you can play it. I think it is in his Alternate Picking lesson and he said always count with the metronom that your playing is accurate. But at high BPM i can't count anymore.

And i count by saying 1 2 3 4 not in my head:)

Posted by: Emir Hot Sep 18 2008, 04:39 PM

If a have a metronome I don't need to count. Metronome is counting for me. Of course in some srazy speed you can't count 1,2,3,4 by saying it you have to listen. If it's too fast then you need to practice more until you get familiar with that speed.

Posted by: edguy Sep 18 2008, 06:26 PM

Ok thanks for your advices i will try to listen more to the metronome at high speeds

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Sep 18 2008, 06:55 PM

You should of course start off by counting out loud, but that is really just a short term thing - once you understand the counting, you should be able to do it in your head, which then means you can play at faster bpm than you can say "1 2 3 4"

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Sep 18 2008, 07:02 PM

Try to get yourself to count in your head like the metronome does, like tic tic tic tic instead of 1 2 3 4. With numbers on high speeds it can really get a bit confusing and do you more damage then help IMO. Develop the feel for those sixteens instead of counting them. Don't worry if you can't do it straight away, just keep on developing and pretty soon when you hear sixteen notes you will know spot on that they are sixteens, without counting or anything.

Posted by: jacmoe Sep 18 2008, 08:35 PM

I generally count with my picking hand, and usually accent the first beat, especially when I'm playing something new.

It is easier to say:
One and Alabama - instead of onetwothreefourfivesix

Posted by: Pedja Simovic Sep 18 2008, 09:58 PM

Very good way!

Accenting beat helps , or just downbeat especially if your intent is to do play 8th , 16th or 32nd note values. It will help you keep your place for sure.

Practice counting slow every rhythm that you are having trouble with. You should do this until counting becomes part of you and very natural (ie. not to feel tension in any way about counting or rhythm figures ) and then you can change to any tempo using your metronome - it won't make much if any difference at all!