metronome or no?

[MikeyLikesIt]

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Use a metronome to slow down your practicing, not to speed it up.
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That's great. Yes sometimes we should practice at slower than performance speed and iron out some glitches deep and slow. Like deep muscle therapy.

That's how all music should be practiced. Nice and slow, get the timing and the accuracy down first.

[talasiga]

Yes I do that a lot but never with the metrognome. I play tabla also. Practice really slowly but never with the gnome. What Glauber said was a corrective to my advice about getting the timing into the body by clapping and dancing to the tune. Of course, you can't play a recording slow speed these days so I guess its back to the gnome or innate body rhythms for practising slow. I prefer the latter.

[ChrisA]

I do occasionally practice with a metronome...but it's been my experience what you practice you get better at. If you practice needing an external beat to keep you steady, you may not find yourself steady without one. I've actually gotten much better on that by using the metronome far less.

This doesn't seem a particular hazard to me, unless one were to -always- play with the metronome... If you practice with the metronome -sometimes-, it helps train you to be -able- to keep up with an external beat is the point. I've never known anyone to become dependent on the metronome for rhythm.

I would like to tap my foot with the music, but foot tapping doesn’t come naturally to me. When I try to tap my foot while playing, I have to think about it at the same time I’m trying to concentrate on playing notes and the notes end up tripping over my feet and my playing stumbles. I suspect that players who tap their feet don't have to think about it.

Actually, I had to learn how to tap my foot. What you do, is start by tapping your foot to the metronome, and for a good while, not just 1-2-3-4, but for say, the duration of an A part. Try following the sheet music with your eyes, if you're using sheet music.

Once you've got your foot nice and solidly in that rhythm, you start playing. Chances are, you're less than halfway through the A-part when you realize your foot stopped, but that's okay, finish the part, and at the beginning of the repeat start your foot again. Repeat the whole exercise, including long musicless foot-tapping every day or so, and eventually it just works. You can also sneak in some much more enjoyable, but much less focused, practice by tapping along with your favorite recorded music.

[Wombat]

Should I get a metronome?

Hey, I had no idea Metro gnomes had started to leave Paris.

What features should it have?

At first, it's bound to be homesick.

Will I the music I play drown out quieter metronomes?

Are you kidding? Have you ever met a quiet Parisien?

[doran]

I don't know that I've ever met any Parisean. Would it make it easier for the gnome if I played it something in French?

[Wombat]

I don't know that I've ever met any Parisean. Would it make it easier for the gnome if I played it something in French?

That'd help with the homesickness. But you'll need an accordeon tuned so wet you have to towel down after you play it.

Seriously, I think playing with a metronome is a good idea. Azalin's suggestion that you play along with records is also a good idea but you'd need slow down equipment to do that in the early stages of learning a tune.

[glauber]

I've had several metronomes (i built my first one, and installed it in an old transitor radio's case). But i prefer the mechanical ones. I love to watch the pendulum swing while i practice; it gives me visual feedback too, in ways that an electronic can't match.

[peteinmn]

Here's a source for a free software metronome. http://www1.ocn.ne.jp/~tuner/tuner_e.html

[Jon-M]

Here's another free digital metronome that I like a lot. As (accurately) described by its inventors, "The AMAZING METRONOME for Windows is a very useful digital tool for all musicians.

This downloadable metronome features two separate tracks with main and sub beats sounding simultaneously in a wide range of time signatures and possible beat subdivisions along with adjustable tempo settings and a selection of sampled percussion sounds."

You can get a copy at http://www.sheetmusicnow.com/tools/metronome.exe

[Kate Dowling]

I hate metronomes - we've been forced to use them when we play for the feis. After playing for so many years with real rhythm I find it very difficult and distracting to play along to a metronome. (but perhaps it's a case of can't teach an old dog new tricks)

Playing with others, be it recordings or in person, is the best way to learn the rhythm. Tapping your foot should keep you in line. I encourage you to play with recordings or other musicians in order to get the tempo and rhythm together. And it's more fun. Listen to LOTS and LOTS of music to get it in your head, as others have suggested. Oh, and give yourself a break and give yourself five or so years to get it down.

[buddhu]

If you can't keep time, you can't play with others. Learn how to keep time via whatever method you need...

Absolutely. Nuff said.

This is especially true for bodhran thumpers. It should be illegal to sell a bodhran without a metronome (yeah, yeah or a pen knife... I know already!).

[Brewster]

I haven't used the metronome much in my whistle practicing, although I probably should. I use it mainly on technical studies with trumpet playing. It is really helpful in keeping me in check, particularly when faced with lots of runs or dotted rhythms that might prompt me to rush and play them bit unevenly (i.e., the infamous affliction called "black note anxiety"!)

[Azalin]

Actually, I did a very primitive piece of software (Windows) a few weeks ago to help you find out if your rhythm is allright. You can tape yourself play a tune, and then listen to the recording while using the software. You click or hit any key every time there's a beat, and the software is going to give you statistics on the average beat per minute, so every 10 beats you're gonna have a result, so that at the end you see the progress. Anyway, it could be helpful if you're curious to see how bad or good you're doing in term of rhythm.

http://www.metayer.info/tempo/tempoanalyzer.exe

I found out I was allright if I kept conscious about my rhythm, but I'm sure that if I forget about it then all hell breaks loose

I also wonder if there's some software out there that can actually analyze a track and analyze it's rhythm, I'm sure it wouldnt be impossible with sound recognition.

[Kate Dowling]

I really think that the best way to learn the rhythm and the tempo is to play with other people, not machines. Find a teacher - and give yourself time.

[Lambchop]

Find a teacher . . .

Ah, well, there's the challenge. If you have any extras up there, can you send them around?