Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Shopping for my 1st metronome...advice?

I have a bigger one that has a human voice option. It would probably drive a lot of people nuts, but for some pieces, hearing the numbers read outloud helps.

Then I have the Korg digital one with a foldover case because it has a nice little visual feature on it. Problem is the external speaker broke soon after purchase, but it still works on headphones.

Pendulum metronomes tend to "limp", swinging to one side faster than the other due to friction, uneven placement or other irregularities. This is quite noticeable.

I have a Boss DB90. It has more bells and whistles than I need, but I happened to find one at a great price. I suspect one of their cheaper models would have what you want.

Little Blue Engine hope you don’t mind I’m hopping on your post, I’m also getting my 1st metronome.

I’m also concerned that digital metronome may sound piercing. I didn’t seem to read about anyone describing how their metronome sound. Can anyone describe a bit on the brand that’s mentioned? Maybe I’m not making sense here but I’m kinda picky on what I hear though.

I do like the idea of the pendulum but I don’t like the pyramid shape. I need one that I can bring around and very durable(because I drop my stuff often). How’s Wittner in terms of quality and sound? Or any other that’s best value for money?

Does one buy a metronome like buying a piano too?

Matrix MR 600 - This model is quartz and you can adjust it while it is clicking so you can play with times to push yourself or back off as needed. It has a volume control which I find very important as I need it louder at my teachers house than at mine. I run it at 2/4 time quite a bit when working on 4/4 as it splits the piece up. A model like this is easy to take with for lessons and it was saving me time instead of working with my teacher's.

As John states above, great little machine, I have dropped it more than once and it keeps working great. I love it, best thing since sliced bread.

Availabe on line for peanuts.

I second the Wittner recommendation if you would like to buy a traditional/wind-up kind. I bought one a couple of years ago and am pleased with the build quality. I like that it does not need batteries, and how I am able to see the swing of the arm on each beat. If you do get one though, be careful with it! I know some pianists who have dropped theirs repeatedly on the ground out of carelessness and it definitely affected the steadiness of the mechanism.

The more the merrier!

Maybe I've just been lucky but I've never run into this (I think saying a pendulum metronome requires a level surface is a bit like saying an electronic one requires batteries... but I understand your point.) If you're practicing on a piano that's irregularly shaped, or placed on a sloping floor or a hillside, this could be a factor.

I agree with you these issues exist but I'm still skeptical anyone could listen to a performance and discern whether the pianist practiced with a pendulum metronome rather than a super-accurate electronic version.

Your mileage may vary.

There was a study I read about where a laboratory tested pendulum metronomes with a radar detector, and they found that the beat was slightly irregular.

Whether or not that will affect your playing, I think it will. I am of the opinion that if using a tempo-teaching device, be it a metronome or a drum machine (I use both), I want the most accurate one available.

The reason is that no matter what I learn from, my playing will probably be less accurate that that. If I learn from a standard of 100% perfection, (assuming a digital metronome is that) then my results will be less than that. If I learn from a pendulum that is irregular, then my playing will even less.

Put it this way...if digital metronomes were the only ones available, and you had a choice between one that was 100% accurate, and one that was not, would you really choose the inaccurate one?

sure.. aesthetics matter.

a properly working Wittner is certainly accurate enough for the human ear, even a fine musician's

it is important btw to develop one's inner metronome. (try guessing the metronome setting on any tempo).

(I don't use my Wittner - i have it way up on a shelf so the kids won't touch it. It works perfectly and my mom bought it used in about 1968).

I find my digital quite handy tho it doesn't look all that great cluttering up my piano.

Isn't that the ultimate purpose of a metronome?

it sure helps~!

Actually my vocal teacher taught me to listen to bass/drum beats to develop my inner metronome which I've been doing for the past years. But recently I can no longer be accurate. The more I try the more I'm off in counting. I just get lost somewhere and getting a metronome is my last resort though.

Ah, but what is 100% accurate? Certainly not a quartz-based metronome.

For ease of comparison, let's say a metronome pendulum oscillates once per second. A quartz metronome has 10-thousand oscillations per second so it's inherently 10-thousand times more accurate.

You say, why would anyone choose the inaccurate one...

Well, a caesium-133 atomic clock has 9 billion oscillations per second. That's 9-hundred-thousand times more accurate than your quartz-based electronic metronome.

Who would want to practice with quartz metronome if it's nearly a MILLION times less accurate than an atomic one?

Don't answer yet... because hypothetically a strontium atomic clock would oscillate 429 trillion times per second. Your quartz-based electronic metronome is 43 BILLION times less accurate than that.

The point of all this is to illustrate that at some point the refinements in accuracy cease to have an impact on the device's practical application: keeping time at a rate ranging between 40 and 208 beats per minute. There's no argument; the increased accuracy is real and measurable (you mention the laboratory test with a radar detector). It just doesn't matter.

I like seeing the pendulum swing as I play. I like the resonant clicking sound it makes. I like the form factor. I like avoiding batteries. If you prefer a device with a flashing light, an earphone jack, a variety of tones and beeps, and the ability to mark complicated rhythms, then by all means choose an electronic one.

All I'm saying is choose between the two because of the practical features you like or dislike. In my experience, the increased precision of the electronic version doesn't make it any more useful - because the difference can't be discerned outside a laboratory setting.

You are right...I should have chosen a different term from "100% accurate".

I should have said something like, "potential varying degrees of inaccuracy (pendulum) to accurate enough (quartz)"



Yes it can...I have witnessed old pendulum metronomes that were clearly "wobbly" in the beat.

Also, there is a limitation to having to physically see the pendulum swing, or the light blink, or whatever. Take it away, (by placing the metronome out of sight), and you have lost one of your beat cues.

The stronger your inner beat, the less you need to rely on those, although they are helpful to develop one's beat, kind of like training wheels.

Having said that, I do like pendulum metronomes for their aesthetic value.

If I had a dollar for every student that came to me over the years with a wind-up metronome that beat unevenly, I could likely be able to retire. There was a time that I fixed them for my students just so they would have something quasi accurate to use. At this point, if the wind-up metronome beats evenly I will roll with it, if it beats unevenly, I just tell the parents it has outlived its usefulness and it's time to upgrade. Model T's will likely get you to the grocery store as well as a new Corvette, but you might not like the bouncy ride, the lousy brakes and no A/C. You might not like to start it with a crank. C'mon gang, for 40 bucks you get an accurate workhorse with a volume control. There is nothing here worth fighting about. I keep all of the period pieces on the shelf. They are nice curiosities. A metronome is a tool, nothing more, nothing less. It helps keep accurate time and it helps to gradually increase tempo. All it needs to do is beat evenly. I bought an electronic metronome kit back in grad school. I assembled it into the plastic case that the parts and PC board came in. It cost me 5 bucks way back when. I used it all through grad school and beyond. It still works and beats evenly and still has the 25 year old battery that also still works. Go figure! I bought the MR 600 Matrix because my venerable kit was such an eyesore, functional but ugly, good for a college student, but heck, if I can afford the mortgage, I can afford a new metronome. My prof in grad also had a nice electronic that he used. He made his money selling records and now CD's.Teaching was adjunct to his performing career. If electronic was good enough for him, it is surely good enough for the rest of us. I never heard him invoke any nonsense about needing to see the pendulum move and anticipating the beat or anything else. If I can get the average level 2B kid to use an electronic metronome, I would bet most listers could as well...without all of the excuses.

88 fingers, your analogy about flat surface vs. batteries is terribly flawed. It assumes that the pendulum metronome has never, nor will ever be dropped. When it has been dropped all sorts of neat things can happen...mostly bad. I can't tell you how many wind-ups I have had to place spacers under one side to get it to beat remotely accurately. As to the performance...well if you have a metronome that beats cockeyed, then you likely will never get to the performance stage, because of your general frustration. The real purpose of the metronome is to be able to discern a tempo from a composer's reference and to gradually increase tempo while maintaining evenness. If you have a pendulum metronome in great condition it will of course do that. Age, lack of lubrication and general maintenance coupled with doing it physical harm, will render it junk. I was gifted one at the age of 6 and used it until it was stolen in undergrad from my practice room. I never had a problem with it, but I took good care of it. It took me from John Thompson to the Tchaikowski Concerto. It was great 45 years ago when virtually nothing else was available. Such is not the case today.

Horses and carriages were OK, Model T's were OK, but technology has thankfully marched on...and I'm not a youngster by any means. I'll take the late-model sports car to the horse and buggy any day.

"I like seeing the pendulum swing as I play. I like the resonant clicking sound it makes. I like the form factor. I like avoiding batteries."

Yeah... I'm with you on all that, 88. I love mechanical clocks, with pendulums and counterweights, chimes, cuckoos, ticks, personality, whirring sounds; things lovingly and cleverly devised by hands. (My piano tuner doesn't love them quite so well, but he doesn't complain.)

But, I have a little quartz metronome that goes in my bookbag and never gives trouble... and I wear a quartz watch. It serves the purpose, and that's all I wish of it. I have a real piano, though--- there, I draw the line.

While there is absolutely nothing wrong with a Wittner (I would love to have one, but really don't need it), I would consider an electronic metronome in addition to the mechanical one for portability's sake.

I personally only use a metronome for practicing scales, arpeggios, and Hanon. I dislike even practicing actual pieces of music to a metronome, preferring to instead discipline myself to hold a steady pulse. To that end, my no-frills electronic metronome has served me just fine. YMMV.

I strongly endorse what John Pels said, above. I had a Mini-Taktell and had to spend five minutes at the beginning of each practice session putting cards or pieces of paper under one side or the other to get it to beat evenly.

I have had one slightly irregular electronic metronome, but that was over 40 years ago.

If you're worried about the metronome having a piercing sound, see if you can try one out in a music store first.

A metronome is a tool. I hope you manage to get good use out of whichever one you choose.

Thanks! I will check it out.

I actually really enjoy using my metronome for everything. I seem more motivated when I use it -- great way to chart one's progress when bringing a piece to speed!