Use a Metronome -- Make Your Music Lesson Fun
and Learning to Play an Instrument Fast and Easy

Starting to Use a Metronome Was Tricky at First

Using the metronome while you play or practice your instrument is a learned skill. It is not immediate and intuitive. You see my picture to the right. I can easily work with a metronome now. But that was not always the case.

Way back when I was a youngster, the most common metronomes were the wind up, pendulum type that had a sliding weight to vary the speed. They were just awkward enough to use to discourage an impatient student.

I underestimated the value of learning to use the metronome. I just didn't like it.

Now it's a regular part of my practice routine. Usually I wait until I'm warmed up. Then I'll check my speed on tunes that I'm learning. I actually enjoy moving the speed ahead just a little as I'm learning a new tune.

I have also coached many violin and fiddle students in using a metronome. Every student learned how to match the pace of playing a tune to the tock-tock pace of the metronome. It took about one or two lessons to get this result.

There are two skills to master. One is starting your playing precisely with the metronome sound. The other is keeping up without lagging behind or surging ahead of the sound.

For an affordable, powerful and flexible software metronome, I recommend The Ultimate Metronome. You can look into it at metronomesecrets.com. (The Ultimate Metronome, I use it to demonstrate a fundamental concept in musical rhythm here: Subdividing the beat video.)

General tips about learning music are at Music Lesson Plan.

Elan often practices with the metronome

Music Lesson Plan -- posts about learning and teaching music

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