Using A Metronome
One of the most underrated tools for musicians today is definitely the metronome. Most serious musicians will agree that using one on a regular basis will help improve their playing.
The word “most” is used here because, it is true, there are a few exceptions: there are musicians out there who can play fast and with great accuracy, without the typical process of disciplined practice with a metronome. John Williams is such an example. When speaking of his own development as a classical guitarist, he usually confesses that he has always felt he did not practice enough, and he mentions nothing about employing a regime of disciplined practice with a metronome. For the rest of us, the path is quite different.
Want to play clean? Want to play with much accuracy? Want to play fast? Use a metronome! Here are three specific ways to use a metronome, along with the associated benefits.
Slow To Fast
While practicing smaller segments from a piece, usually more difficult ones, musicians will benefit from starting with a very slow tempo and gradually increase it. Upon arriving at the desired speed, some musicians like to go beyond to faster tempi, and then slow down, back to the desired tempo. Some claim that doing this helps them in the same way an athlete benefits from running, swimming, etc. with added weights on their hands and/or feet, and then removing the added weights. Upon removing the added weights, athletes usually feel that the same distance that felt difficult to travel before will now feel much easier, simply because the added weights have been removed.Discovering & Strengthening Weak Spots
Playing with a metronome will often reveal to the player which sections are easily played and which sections require attention. Because the metronome forces the player to keep going no matter what, the player is bound to quickly discover which sections need more attention. Unfortunately, playing through the piece without the use of a metronome may not reveal all the weak spots, simply because the player will usually slightly slow down the tempo to accommodate for the difficulty ahead. Once the weak spots are discovered, the player can now use the metronome to practice those sections alone, from very slow tempi to very fast ones.Dotted Rhythms
Taking a rhythm written in straight-forward eight notes, and placing a dot on the first eighth note in the pair, and then moving that dot to the second eighth note in the pair, will cause the fingers to focus on they mechanical changes in different ways than playing the rhythms as written. For string players, this will also help with better string crossing, as the fingers are forced to place accents in places that are not accented while playing the original rhythm. Using a metronome while playing dotted rhythms is crucially important as it will help the player keep a steady beat through the different rhythmic variations.
I was recently given an old (but new in the box) mechanical metronome. I’ve used digital metronomes for a few years now, and it was quite interesting to go back and learn how to use a mechanical, pendulum one. Here’s a video in which I show this metronome
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Here are a few different types of metronomes you can take a look at. If you do not own one at this time, I recommend you get one and try incorporating it into your daily practice routine.
Wittner Wooden Mechanical Metronome - The One My Video
Wittner Wooden Black Mechanical Metronome with Bell
Ueteto Plastic Mechanical Metronome
