I´m a chronical foot tapper too! I just can´t help myself!The Whistle Collector wrote:The metronome helps me out tremendously. It gets me in the habit of tapping my foot.
Imagine a symphony orchestra with 100 foot tapping musicians!
I´m a chronical foot tapper too! I just can´t help myself!The Whistle Collector wrote:The metronome helps me out tremendously. It gets me in the habit of tapping my foot.
You do have a point but in dance music, it is important that you keep the beat as steady as possible so that you should try to ensure that you are as regular as possible on the beat. Between the beats, you can stretch and compress notes to make the feel more human as long as you can land on the beat in time.falkbeer wrote: What you say makes good sense! I suppose I have forgotten what it is like to be a student! But when I learn a new piece I begin very slowly and then gradually increse speed. (sometimes over several weeks if it is a difficult piece). But I have no objection of practising with the metronome to give you a hint of the pace. What I object against is playing or performing music "metronomeically" or mechanically. Anyone who has even a basic notion of music knows it will kill all humanity and emotion in music. Just try listening to a jig played by a computer! A piece by Chopin will become virtually unrecognizable without the human touch!!!
I agree with most of what you've said here and in the rest of this thread. There's a crucial point you're missing though. Flexible tempo is well and good if your playing solo or if its a rehearsed performance. In sessions where there is a group of people playing together, I see flexible tempo resulting in cacophony.falkbeer wrote:The metronome was not inteneded as a practice tool! It´s just a more way of giving the musician a hint on the tempo. Andante, Allegro and Moderato isn´t very precise, but M.M. 76 or M.M. 100 is! I always use it in my sheet music.
I think it´s very unfortunate that many people believe that music should be played in an exact tempo. This is a misconception of music. Great musicians in the old days like Heifez, Kreiseler and Segovia used very flexible tempo and lots of rubato in their recordings. Imagine a slow air played in an exact tempo! Huh...
If everyone is playing notes differently the tune has amazing ability to become recognizable too. Not to mention, tunes and Chopin are two different animals.Just try listening to a jig played by a computer! A piece by Chopin will become virtually unrecognizable without the human touch!!!
I think you nailed it - a steady beat isn´t the same as a mechanical beat.Tootler wrote:You do have a point but in dance music, it is important that you keep the beat as steady as possible so that you should try to ensure that you are as regular as possible on the beat. Between the beats, you can stretch and compress notes to make the feel more human as long as you can land on the beat in time.falkbeer wrote: What you say makes good sense! I suppose I have forgotten what it is like to be a student! But when I learn a new piece I begin very slowly and then gradually increse speed. (sometimes over several weeks if it is a difficult piece). But I have no objection of practising with the metronome to give you a hint of the pace. What I object against is playing or performing music "metronomeically" or mechanically. Anyone who has even a basic notion of music knows it will kill all humanity and emotion in music. Just try listening to a jig played by a computer! A piece by Chopin will become virtually unrecognizable without the human touch!!!
On the other hand, I had an interesting experience some years ago. I was at a disco and most of the music was from the 60's and 70's. Towards the end of the evening, someone put on some "more recent" stuff where the beat had been generated by a drum synthesizer. The beat was absolutely spot on, but it was very difficult to dance to. The beat was just too mechanical.
However steady you are, no one is perfect and we adapt to the small unevennesses of the beat.
Geoff
Geoff
I know that even professional musicians use the metronome to practice rhythmically complex passages in music. Myself -- I just tap my right foot!Ceili_whistle_man wrote:Metronome (me-truh-nohm) noun; An underground train-loving French dwarf; also,
A mechanical or electrical instrument that makes repeated clicking sounds at an adjustable pace, used for marking rhythm, esp. in practicing music.
(Invented, or at least patented, you can argue the point, by Maezel http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM1MBGl[/url] circa 1815)
Each to their own, I use one only very rarely, and I understand that they can be a great help to beginners and established players alike.
That's the point really. Playing on the beat (every beat) isn't the same as playing well and in time. Great players of almost all dance-based genres move notes around the beats but ALWAYS with a strict sense of where that beat is, and which of those beats matter. A metronome isn;t going to teach you that essential...a steady beat isn´t the same as a mechanical beat.
The issue at hand is tempo and emphasis of beats. Almost invariably, dance music has constant tempo. A metronome will help any musician in this regard. The emphasis (accenting) of notes in dance music can, and is often manipulated and varied on the fly. Whether this is done through dynamics, articulation, swing, syncopation, or note duration, the metronome will be less useful in this regard.MarkP wrote:That's the point really. Playing on the beat (every beat) isn't the same as playing well and in time. Great players of almost all dance-based genres move notes around the beats but ALWAYS with a strict sense of where that beat is, and which of those beats matter. A metronome isn;t going to teach you that essential...a steady beat isn´t the same as a mechanical beat.
If you're practising near a computer try this oneKBR wrote:I switched an electronic model which seems rock solid but creates one of those rather awful e-tones.
Two beats to the bar?KBR wrote:I still haven't figured out how to use one for 6/8 time though
It would have to be an Irish orchestra for that.falkbeer wrote:I´m a chronical foot tapper too! I just can´t help myself!The Whistle Collector wrote:The metronome helps me out tremendously. It gets me in the habit of tapping my foot.
Imagine a symphony orchestra with 100 foot tapping musicians!