Why Your Practice Isn’t Working: Tempo

This week, we’re continuing our series “Why Your Practice Isn’t Working” by diving into one of the most important—and most commonly overlooked—elements of musical practice: tempo.

Tempo affects every musician, regardless of instrument, style, or level of experience. Yet it’s often something we assume we already have under control. In this article, we’ll explore why tempo matters so much, how it connects directly to groove, and—most importantly—how you can work on improving your tempo every single time you practice.

What Do We Mean by Tempo?

At its simplest, tempo refers to the speed of a piece of music. But when we look a little deeper, tempo is really about how accurately and consistently we can feel, hear, and maintain that speed over time.

Good tempo isn’t just about starting at the right speed—it’s about staying there. It’s about consistency, confidence, and control. In other words, tempo is your ability to keep time without drifting, rushing, or dragging.

Despite its importance, tempo is often pushed to the side in practice sessions. It’s easy to think, “I’ve got decent timing,” and move on to something more exciting like chops, licks, or learning new material. But strong tempo doesn’t happen by accident—it needs regular, focused attention.

Building your sense of time is really about developing your internal metronome—that steady pulse you can rely on whether there’s a click present or not.

As bassist Janek Gwizdala perfectly sums it up:

“Time and sound over everything.”

Why Is Timing So Important?

The answer is simple: groove.

Groove is what makes music feel good. It’s what makes people nod their heads, tap their feet, and move to the beat. Groove draws listeners in and makes music engaging and alive.

And groove lives and dies on timing.

No matter how impressive your technique or how complex the music is, if the timing isn’t solid, the groove falls apart. Every musician—drummers, bassists, guitarists, pianists, horn players, singers—needs to groove. And to groove, you need a strong, reliable sense of tempo.

That’s why working on tempo isn’t optional. It’s essential.

An Easy Way to Work on Tempo Every Practice

The simplest and most effective way to improve your tempo is to play regularly with a metronome or click.

If you’re warming up, add a click.

If you’re working on technical exercises, add a click.

If you’re practicing parts of songs, licks, fills, or even improvising—use a click.

Almost anything you practice can be done with a metronome, and by doing so, you’re automatically training your time feel.

That said, we’re not saying you must practice everything to a click. There are moments where a metronome can be distracting or even counterproductive—especially when working on sound, phrasing, or certain creative ideas.

However, regular metronome practice will dramatically improve your tempo over time. Consistency is key.

How to Practice with a Metronome

There’s no secret trick to using a metronome effectively. Once you understand the rhythms you’re playing, the click simply becomes a reference point. Here are a few progressive ways to get more out of your metronome practice.

Step 1: Lock in with the Downbeat

Start simple. Set the metronome so the click represents each downbeat of the bar.

If you’re playing in 4/4, hear the click as beats 1, 2, 3, and 4. Spend time here. Get really comfortable locking in with the click and aligning your playing exactly with each beat.

This step builds a strong foundation and helps you establish a clear relationship between your playing and the pulse.

Step 2: Take Away Beats

Once you’re comfortable hearing all four beats, make things a little more challenging.

Remove some of the clicks. Many apps let you mute specific beats, but there’s an easy workaround: halve the tempo on the metronome without changing how fast you play. Now, the click represents beats 1 and 3.

When that feels solid, halve it again so the click only lands on beat 1 of each bar. This forces you to take more responsibility for the time, rather than relying on the metronome to do all the work.

Step 3: Take Away Entire Bars

For this exercise, you’ll need a metronome app that allows you to program silence.

Start with one bar of click followed by one bar of silence. During the silent bar, your job is to keep the tempo steady and meet the click perfectly when it returns.

As you improve, increase the number of silent bars. This exercise is fantastic for developing consistency and confidence in your internal pulse.

Step 4: Move the Click

This final step is both challenging and incredibly rewarding.

Instead of hearing the click as the downbeat, shift where it sits in the bar. Start by hearing the click as off-beat quavers, then experiment with other placements such as off-beat semiquavers or triplet partials.

This approach takes time and patience, but it massively strengthens your sense of time and subdivision. It also makes returning to a standard click feel much easier and more controlled.

Which Metronome Should You Use?

This is a question we get asked a lot at The Music Hub, and the answer is refreshingly simple: Use the one that works for you.

A traditional ticking metronome, a phone app, a web-based tool, or even a drum machine—all of them do the same job: they keep consistent time.

Apps are especially convenient and offer a huge range of features, from gap clicks to complex subdivisions. Try a few options and see what you enjoy using. The best metronome is the one you’ll actually practice with.

Here are a few we like (in no particular order):

• MetroTimer

• Gap Click

• SBL Groove Trainer

• Tempo

• Polynome

  
  

Tracking Your Progress

Tempo is also a great way to measure improvement.

By keeping track of the tempos you practice at, you create a clear, objective way to see progress over time. This isn’t about playing everything as fast as possible—it’s about noticing increased confidence, control, and consistency at different speeds.

Watching your comfort zone expand is incredibly motivating.

Final Thoughts

The metronome is one of the most powerful tools a musician can use. Developing strong tempo and consistent timing directly improves your groove—and groove is what makes music feel great.

Working on tempo doesn’t have to be complicated. With regular, thoughtful practice, small changes add up quickly. The most important thing is to start using a metronome consistently and make tempo a normal part of your routine.

Let us know how you use a metronome in your practice, or share your favourite apps and tools in the comments below.