Having trouble playing to metronome at higher speeds

So probably a dumb question but I have been playing for a long time but unfortunately never really used a metronome for a lot of it. I did practice to backing tracks quite a bit. I’m sure my timing is definitely not perfect but I’m a hobbyist not a session player. I just can’t seem to “judge” how fast to play once things get a little quick. Speeds that I can easily play faster than. I feel like dedicating a lot of time to going all the way back and playing to a metronome at slow speeds is a waste, but I’m thinking it might be necessary. Any suggestions?

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What I usually do is halving the tempo and playing 32nd notes instead of 16th notes.

I will give that a try. I think that could work really well now that you mention it. Appreciate it!

It helped for me to reduce the stress to follow the beat. It was distracting and I can much easier play at faster speeds by focusing on less clicks.

Yes, I think that describes a lot of my issues. I’m still going to work with it more but I also don’t want to waste my time. I feel like I have a decent foundation but am just starting to analyze my technique now with Troy’s info. I noticed you are DSX(and a really good player). How do you handle the 3nps runs. Do you rotate or economy pick them? Any tips? Trying to decide what to focus on.

I’m swiping on ascending lines and do forearm rotation on descending upstroke changes.

Good to know thanks. I need to read up more on exactly what swiping is.

I found that above 140ish BPM or so, my brain doesn’t like playing along as well? So I just switch to half note BPM.

Yup that was a great suggestion. I tried it and solved all the issues I was having. So more metronome work in my future. It’s good to have as a benchmark which is one of the main reasons it was frustrating me. I know I can play to a backing track pretty well at this point you know. I have also been having trouble with certain sweeping licks timing at faster speeds and know I need to use it.

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@lba08001 glad it worked for you!