Learning scales is essential to improvising and develop your musicianship. In this lesson, we'll learn an effective exercise to practice scales with a metronome. I know that picking scales with a metronome is not the most exciting thing, but it's super effective for improving hand synchronization.

Practicing scales with a metronome develops a series of skills that will benefit your playing. With this exercise, you'll also increase your picking accuracy. You'll build muscle memory and the relationship between your ears and fingers.

Before You Begin

You should have Pattern 1 of the G Major Scale in your memory. You need to be able to play it up and down at a constant speed without any pauses. If you can, tap your foot with the beat as well.

Get Your Metronome Ready!

I have an excellent metronome app available for iOS and Android. The JustinGuitar Time Trainer is accurate and precise. Be aware that many free apps are not, so make sure you've got a stable one!

BPM and Accents

In case you didn't know, we describe tempo in BPM - or Beats per Minute! 60 BPM would be the same as one-click per second.

Most metronomes offer an accent feature. I suggest you set yours to 4. Accenting the 1 for each count of 4 will help you develop your feel of the bar length.

By the way, if you ever need to work out the BPM of a song, try out my free tempo calculator.

The Disappearing Metronome Trick

When you do this exercise correctly, you might not hear the metronome. In fact, it’s a great idea to set the volume of the metronome low enough. If you play exactly with the click, you shouldn't hear the metronome.

What Pick?

The best pick to practice scales is a thick one. The thinner ones are good for strumming but useless for this kind of exercise. Get yourself an excellent thick pick, like 1mm.

The shape and the size of the pick is a personal preference. I'd recommend you try different options and stick with the one that works the best for you.

Picking & Pick Angle

I've only got into the complexity of picking in the last few years. Mostly, thanks to Troy Grady’s excellent Cracking The Code research and website.

For this exercise, use alternate picking. You will also like to check out different picking approaches in my Why You Can't Pick Fast lesson (coming soon!). There, we explore some pick escape methods and the DWPS (Downward Pick Slanting).

You should always watch out for the pick angle. Make sure that your pick is at an angle to the string. If it’s square on, it’ll be hard to control when the pick slips over the string, and it will often get caught. Just a 10-15 degree angle is enough, but you can experiment with more.

Now that you have all the essential information, let's start our practice!

Scales & Metronome: The Exercise

This exercise aims to get your fretting finger to go down exactly as you pick the note. These movements should happen at the same time as the metronome click!

Here's a step by step on how to practice scales with a metronome:

If you are new to this exercise, start slow, very slow. Try one note per metronome click at around 60 BPM.

Start playing the scale with the metronome. Try to get the note to come exactly with the metronome! Not before or after, but right with it.

Aim for clarity in all notes. Make sure they sound clear and that you're not muting any string by mistake. Check if your fingers are well-positioned next to the fret wire.

Tap your foot along too! It helps you develop your internal metronome. I hope you are doing that already!

You can move the speed up only when you can perfectly play a scale 4 times in a row (consecutively!) Start by moving the metronome up by 10bpm each time. As you get closer to your fastest speed, start going up by only 5 BPM or even 2 BPM at a time.

Once you get to 150 BPM, move on to 2 notes per click at 75 BPM. Like that, you'll play eighth notes - one note with the click and the other note in-between. This step is an excellent practice for your alternate picking too! The down pick will always be with the beat and the up between the clicks.

If you get up to 160 BPM, then play 4 notes per metronome click. We call this 16th Note. It's going to take a while to get to that speed. Don't worry if you are not playing at 160 BPM after a week, a month, or even a year!

Before you worry about going faster than 4 notes per click at 100 BPM, focus on the mechanics of picking. Spending some time to understand picking makes the real difference at higher speeds!

Scales Practice: Mistakes to Avoid

Here are some common mistakes to avoid when practicing scales with a metronome:

Rushing is typical when people first start with this. Don't rush! Try to relax and take your time. Don't fight against the click of the metronome - you won't win!

If notes are coming out muffled or smudged, slow down. Get it right, and then speed up again.

If you see a recurrent problem, act like an ‘observer.’ When you catch the mistake, take the time to see what's wrong. Sometimes the issue will disappear by itself. If not, I'm confident you can do some problem-solving! :)

Track Your Progress!

Recording yourself in the early stages will help your journey! You'll be able to watch it back and track your progress.

It's awesome to keep your motivation high, but it can also help you observe some eventual problems. Don't forget to post your videos in the comments below. I'm sure you'll get constructive feedback and support from fantastic guitar players. :)