Having studied orchestration for film and television, I find working with a metronome easy; when creating orchestral mock-ups timed to video in a digital audio workstation, the metronome is frequently, if not permanently, turned on. However, when I was just starting out learning to play the piano, I, like most students, was not a big fan of the metronome. But as with most things, practicing with a metronome over time becomes easy and natural. Let’s answer some of these frequently asked questions. What is a metronome? Why do we use one? How do we use it?
What is a metronome? When a composer writes a piece of music, it’s usually written with a particular tempo in mind. Tempo is the pace at which the music will be played, anywhere from extremely slow to fast. The pace at which we play a piece of music is measured in beats per minute. A metronome is a device that measures time in beats per minute. When a tempo marking, found above the first measure of music, indicates quarter notes at 120, that means 120 quarter notes pass per minute.
Why do we use one? As we discussed earlier, music is written by the composer. That composer has a particular speed in mind for the music to be played, usually a tempo that best conveys the style and mood of the music. For example, sad songs aren’t usually played fast, happy songs aren’t usually played slow, and pieces meant for dancing have different tempos depending on the dance they are intended for. Using a metronome helps us, as players, play the music at the speed the composer intended.
How do we use it? That’s a trickier question, as different metronomes have different features. Let’s cover the basics of where to find the tempo on a piece of music: metronomes without a bell, those with a bell, and those with unique counting.
We generally find the tempo above the first measure of music. It can be written in various ways, either as a simple term like Allegro, or a modern term such as moderately, or as frequently in classical music, a term followed by a note duration and number, such as allegro quarter notes equal 120-156 (which means the metronome should be set anywhere from 120-156 and each click would indicate a quarter note). If, on the other hand, you see half notes equal to 80, you would set the metronome to 80 clicks a minute, and each click would represent a half note.
If your metronome has no bell, simply set it anywhere within the desired range of the tempo indicated by the music.
If your metronome has a bell, the bell can usually be set to ring on the first of every two, three or four clicks. You would select when you want the bell to ring based on the top number of the time signature, either duple (2), triple (3), or quadruple (4) if in simple time. If dealing with the compound time, you’d set the bell for two if the top number of the time signature is six, three if the top number is nine, or four if the top number of the time signature is twelve. Each time the bell rings, it indicates the start of a new measure.
Some metronomes have additional features that let you select subdivisions of the beat. This means the metronome will click on every eighth or sixteenth note, with a louder click on the main beat and an accented bell or click at the beginning of each bar. For some, that metronome feature helps them keep track of eighth and sixteenth notes frequently found in the music.
This is a simplistic explanation of how metronomes work; there are many other ways to set up and use your metronome when practicing; each situation is a little different, but this article covers the most frequently used cases for the most part.
Have fun practicing
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