Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Leaving a metronome running

This is gonna be a bit of an oddball question. Is it advisable - at all - to leave a metronome running at a slow tempo like 60bpm, and just play?

Without concentrating to hard on "2 notes per 1 click" - like you would in a scale.

I find that using a metronome for scales and then for pieces, is almost like two entirely different worlds.

It's like I can almost feel myself out of sync with the metronome when trying to concentrate on how to 'properly' use is while I'm trying to play.

Would it make sense to just run it and let the ear do the work? Without being all too concerned?

Leaving a metronome on gets me rattled. For me it is better to 'let my ear do the work' and listen to the music. I use a metronome to keep track of beats when I am figuring out a tricky rhythm.

I use a metronome to fall asleep at night
after seeing Morgan Freeman do it in "Se7en".

I think it's far too generalizing to just set a metronome at any given bpm and then practice several different things. Everything you play (pick two any random scales, for instance) is going to be different in terms of comfortable tempi. The metronome is best saved for fine-tuning, self-testing (checking/tightening rhythm), and keeping track of progress with technique.

If you do for example a slowdown that is appropriate to the piece, and then get back to tempo, you will be off the beat.

Usually if I get off the beat, the metronome does not help to get the indicated speed. It's just a background noise. Maybe you're different in this respect, but in such situations it's useless to leave the metronome on.

So I would say, if you have it on, stick with its beat.

Yet, be careful not to overuse it as that may train you to play the piece at a very constant throughout speed. For some pieces that's great (so no risk of overuse I guess) but for pieces that require a smooth change of tempi all the time this is less useful.

It's easy to _think_ you're playing something at an even tempo, and to wander all over the place.

There are two ways to detect that:

1. Listen to a recording of your own playing -- you'll hear the problems, because you won't be concentrating on playing the music.

2. Practice -- occasionally -- with a metronome. That will teach you what "steady beat" feels like.

To leave the metronome on, and ignore it -- I can't see much sense in that.

. Charles

This was interesting because when I let the metronome run I feel as if I'm more in tune. I'm not ignoring it. Almost like it's presence is pushing me along maybe? More so than I would be if it were off.

On the flip side I'm wondering if I may lack the skill or knowledge to apply that metronome flawlessly to what I'm doing .. which is playing.

I'll say it like this. If I play with the metronome on. Even at a slow starting tempo like 60 BPM.

If I leave it running at 60 and make a mistake, it's like just having that "beat" or "tick" to start off on for the next note, makes it feel easier to play the second time around.

If I had left the metronome off, it's almost like "feeling" more disassociated with what's going on.

Is that really what's happening? Every youtube video or tutorial I've seen on technique - they all say - "Start your metronome at a slow tempo AKA 60bpm"

Leads me to wonder I guess.

Here is a silly idea aimed at improving the sense of pulse: Have any of you experimented with leaving the metronome on in the background while doing life stuff (albeit not restricted to piano stuff) so as to get a steady beat under one's skin?

I have been using metronome a lot, maybe even overused, and yes it really helps getting a stable beat without the metronome. For example my friend has a wii and I occasionally join in. One of the games involved counting a number of seconds and press the button as close as possible after the given number of seconds. I was amazed myself how dead on I was and I beat my friend big time even though they play wii quite often

This is another great use of the metronome. Most people use it to find weak sections in a piece (and that's a good thing), but I think using a metronome to strengthen your sense of time is a fantastic exercise in rhythm.

Most studio recordings are done with a click track. I've even performed live with a click in my ear. It's becoming far more common. The trick is to hear a click but feel a rhythm. Subdividing (hearing the upbeats) is what is important here. It's easier to tap along (or walk, or whatever) to a faster beat. To test your skill level, turn the metronome down to a slow tempo. You'll have to say to yourself CLICK-and-CLICK-and-CLICK to get on the beat. Set it to something ridiculous, like 40 and you'll have to go CLICK-2-3-4-CLICK-2-3-4.

This will help your overall sense of time. And by the way, this doesn't change your ability to push and pull tempo creatively. I listen to recordings I do without a click, and the natural speed ups and slow downs are still there.

If there are any local "drum circles", they're a good place to start learning about "pulse".

They're also great fun!

. Charles

PS -- Google for:

. . "drum circle" directory

finds this for the USA:

http://drumcircles.net/circlelist.html

and an international one:

http://drumcircles.net/internationalcirclestext.html

Unfortunately, nobody wears bikinis in the ones I attend.<g>

I only very rarely use a metronome for my own playing. It does make a difference with students. It helps them see for themselves they were not keeping even tempo. So, it seems the best judge would be another person listening to you and let him tell you if you were even.

I use the metronome a lot, in every practice session. It really seems to help me focus and concentrate. I use it:
-- to ensure that I am keeping a steady rhythm in tricky spots,
-- force a slow tempo for practice when I 'think" I know something well enough to play faster, but I really don't
--to up the tempo incrementally until I get to performance tempo
--and to put "performance" pressure on when I am polishing a piece at tempo. Personally I think making friends with the metronome has really helped my sense of rhythm and my playing.

Your response really intrigues me. I feel like what your saying, is something I can FEEL happening, when I play with the metronome on.

Although I'm unclear if I'm using the metronome absolutely accurately. As it "technically" should be used.

So if I lack the knowledge to understand my metronome "technically" ... Than I will at least try to gather some comfort from the fact that I have it running and can depend on it.

Or else, as a beginner, I'm scared I'll never develop my rhythm properly.

I have a question about metronome use.
One way or the other I'm "afraid" to use the metronome. I've read somewhere a long while ago that using a metronome will disturb your own sense of ryhtm.

What is the best way to improve your rythm without making yourself rely on the metronome? For example: I play some ragtime pieces.. but I always speed up. How can I "train" this using a metrome. I guess not always when practicing using a metronome.. but once in a while or something like that?

I suspect this is a common superstition rather than the result of any sort of scientific study. I don't think we're in a position to do peer-reviewed research here on an internet forum, but lets ask the local experts:

So teachers reading this, have you ever seen a metronome ruin a student's sense of rhythm?

I find it hard to play if there's a metronome or a rhythm running, but that's my lack of discipline showing!
But the metronome sound on my keyboard is ruddy awful!

Saying "the metronome will disturb your own sense of rhythm" is like saying to a beginning singer:

. . . Don't practice with a piano -- it will disturb your
. . . own sense of pitch.

But that's what you _want_ !!!! The pitches coming out of a piano are _dead on_. The pitches coming out of a beginning singer -- not so much. So the singer "tunes" to the piano's pitches. That doesn't mean the singer can't slide, or use quarter-tones, or whatever, _when they're called for_.

Playing "dead even" isn't something a pianist needs to do in solo performance. But if you don't know what "dead even" sounds like, and you _can't_ do it, you're in trouble.

"Rubato" -- which is crucial in performance -- is measured against "dead even". You need a strong sense of "even time" to know when you're speeding up, and slowing down.

A way to develop that sense of "even time" is to practice with a metronome! It's a _learned skill_ -- it doesn't come naturally to us.

I wouldn't worry that "metronome practice" will harm _anything_ about your playing. And if you tend to speed things up, it'll keep you honest, and give you a sense of what it means to keep an even beat.

You don't want to "rely" on the metronome forever. You want to move that even "tick tock tick tock" into your head, so you can hear it when you want to.

. Charles

Personally, it is the subtle nuances and slight variations in tempo that give a piece its 'human' and not robotic sound.

Leaving a constant beat on only to jump in at the right moment is probably a good skill to acquire but I would never want to play anything based on anyone elses predetermined beat/tempo. I see this as being similar to painting by numbers where everything is predetermined for you.

I can't make a piece my own when there is a preset speed limit. I do however fully recognize the need to be able to play a piece in correct time so I guess it just depends on what you play.

Instead of listening to a metronome by itself -- or perhaps alternating with it -- how about listening to recorded music? That way you get not just the beat, but also the melody and harmony.

As Mr. S-H observes, pretty much everything in the real human world is somewhat rubato. Another thing to play with is the playback function in a music notation program such as MuseScore. It'll give you what's written with millisecond perfection. And if you don't want to spend the money on a metronome, you could just write up your own click track on the computer. MuseScore is a free download, and if you're reading this, you already have the computer.... You can also use MuseScore to make a "Music Minus One" to play along with.