Click
96
BPM
Feel
Sparse click modes remove the scaffolding. Clicking only on 2 and 4 puts the metronome where a drummer’s hi-hat sits; beat 1 only exposes whether your time drifts across a bar.
Tempo progression
raise the tempo only when the material stays clean
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Why am I practising this?expand
- What it teaches
- Playing in time rather than merely playing fast, and raising tempo in increments small enough that technique does not break.
- Problem it solves
- Most tempo gains are lost because players jump too far and rehearse errors.
- Physical skill
- Steady air, relaxed fingers and consistent articulation as the tempo rises.
- Theory reinforced
- Subdivision: whatever the click marks, you should feel the layer underneath it.
- Improvisation
- Time feel is what makes a line convincing; the notes are secondary.
- Ear training
- Sparse clicks force you to hold the pulse internally instead of following it.
- Common mistakes
- Increasing tempo after one lucky repetition; tensing the jaw and hands as speed rises; practising only with clicks on every beat.
- Recommended tempo
- Start below your clean tempo, not at it.
- Increasing difficulty
- Move to beats 2 and 4, then beat 1 only, then leave bars silent entirely.
- Mastered when
- You arrive at the target tempo with the same tone and articulation you had at the starting tempo.
How to practise it
- 01Find the fastest tempo at which the material is genuinely clean, then subtract 8 BPM.
- 02Play two clean repetitions before advancing.
- 03Advance by four BPM at a time.
- 04If a repetition is not clean, drop back one step and stay there.
- 05Stop while you are still relaxed — take a break every 25 to 30 minutes.