Many of you may recognize where I got the name for this post:”Humble Metronomics” from. For some reason I thought I would “borrow” the idea from my friend Jeff West, author of the “Humble Uker” ukulele blog – I just liked the way it sounded.
The other day, I was alerted to the fact that not everyone knows what a metronome is, much less how it works, and how to use it.
Images of tortured children being forced to practice with a metronome on the piano or violin for endless hours comes to mind, but it doesn’t have to be that way. A metronome can be your friend, and it provides a superior way to keep time and to learn to listen while you play.
Simply said, a metronome is a device that makes a clicking sound at certain intervals. It can be adjusted to go fast (presto) of slow (largo) and once started – it just goes and goes and doesn’t vary at all. It doesn’t listen to you – you must listen to it!
There are various types of metronomes: I have one that is old school – mechanical (I’ll show you in the attached video). There are electronic devices, and I am certain there is an iPhone app as well. Some give you options like drums sounds and some will let you “accent” the first beat, but overall, you use them the same way – to keep time.
I have found that it is often helpful to set the metronome to twice the speed than what I need, as it makes it easier to be more accurate.
What? Imagine this:
Say you needed to measure something in inches but you only had a ruler that measured feet. You could approximate and come close, but if the ruler was divided into inches, you could be more accurate. Same with tempo. More clicks = more accuracy. (I will try to explain this in the attached video.)
Remember – these tutorials are all aimed towards rhythm and patience – the two most important aspect of playing music (in my opinion) – and yet, they are often the least taught.
Have fun and let me know how this helped you.
Rhan
Tags: friend jeff, metronomes
January 15, 2012 at 1:10 pm |
Good Timing!!!! no pun intended. When I bought my electronic clip on tuner it has a built in Metronome as well. Although it just beeps (doesn’t have the option to make cow or drum sounds), it has a ton of settings. I can set the tempo 30 – 280 bmp and the beat 0 – 9, it also has settings for the beat mode (indicated by some sort of musical notes), which I have no idea what that is (just makes it beep more at different times). So all in all I have no idea how to have it set up for what I really need it to do. And of course the instruction sheet that came with it, is really lacking in any sort of direction. I think I am to have it set up for 4 beats per 80 – 120 times per. Lucky me, I can’t even find it online. Apex AT9M.
To date I have not really even tried to use it, but I will.
Thanks for bringing the Metronome into play!!
January 15, 2012 at 4:56 pm |
William, I hope you realize that you are the one who inspired me to write this post. I was reading your blog and in doing so, was informed that not everyone is familiar with the tool. I appreciate hearing from readers what they need help with, as it is not always obvious to me. Thanks, and keep working with the metronome and let me know how it goes.
Rhan