Why Use a Metronome?

by Kyle Coughlin

Educational Tools > MetronomeBot Home > Metronome Info and Help

Why do we need to practice with a metronome?

Visit MetronomeBot at his new home: www.MetronomeBot.com

Many students resist using their metronomes. They give several reasons why they don’t practice with a metronome, but their general dislike of this great practice tool results from two main problems: They don’t yet understand how important it is to practice with a metronome, and they are not sure how to use it, either.

Practicing with a metronome is helpful in several ways:

It improves your sense of beat and tempo. A good metronome will always produce a steady beat. Not all metronomes are perfectly reliable, though. The old windup type of metronome can be unsteady if it is not on a perfectly level surface. Also, there are an increasing number of online metronomes which do not produce a regular beat. MetronomeBot plays audio files that were created using Digital Performer 5, by MOTU. The tempos are all steady and accurate.

Practicing with a metronome also helps ensure that you are playing your rhythms and note values accurately. You can fine-tune your rhythms by subdividing the beat. MetronomeBot has several different metronomes that subdivide.

The metronome also helps you develop your ears and your musical skills by requiring you to listen to more than just what is coming out of your instrument. By listening to a steady beat and playing along with it, you will increase your musical awareness and be able to play better with other musicians, too.

Playing with a metronome shows you where you are having technical difficulties. Many students who do not use a metronome slow down and speed up when it’s convenient. They don’t realize it, but they change tempos by slowing down when the music is difficult and by speeding up when it is easy. As a result of this bad practice habit, they are not aware of which musical passages are difficult. They simply slow down at those points. By practicing with a metronome, it becomes clear what sections of the music are hard, because the metronome does not change tempo.

The metronome can also help you practice much more efficiently. You can use it to gradually speed up the tempo of pieces that you are working on. Instead of just guessing how fast you should play, you can use the metronome to start at a slow tempo and gradually speed up. Also, you can use it to isolate and slow down very difficult passages and bring them back to the tempo of the rest of the piece that you are working on.

The talking metronome is especially helpful for beginners who aren’t sure how to play with a metronome. It provides a steady count for every measure and lets students know if they are on the appropriate beat.

For more reasons why practicing with a metronome is helpful, visit www.metronomebot.com/why-use-a-metronome.html