A guitar practice essential.

Choose something you already know how to play. It can be a simple chord progression, a scale, a strumming pattern, or even a section of a song. Set the metronome to the correct time signature for whatever you want to play, usually 4/4, and set an appropriate BPM for your exercise. It’s best practice to start slower and focus on perfect execution. 80 BPM is my go-to starting point for most exercises, but it’s going to depend entirely on what you’re practicing.

Start the metronome and play along, aiming for accuracy and precision over anything else. When you’re new to playing with a metronome, it’s common to find yourself rushing or dragging. Don’t be discouraged. Keep at it until things start feeling easy.

At this point, it can be a good idea to increase the tempo a little bit, 5–10 BPM. If at any point you feel like you need to abandon accuracy to keep up with the metronome, then it’s best to bring the tempo back down to a level you can manage.