A metronome is either a mechanical or electronic device that produces short sound bursts at regular intervals of time. Click. Click. Click. It’s designed to help you set a beat and stick with it as you play. 

Metronomes are common instruments used in practice for helping you establish a beat. It’s been used by composers for centuries to help people better understand how the composer designed their songs to be played. 

Every song is created with a specific beats per minute – BPM – to let you know how fast or slow the music should go. BPM is also known as tempo. 

Think about the tick of a second hand on a clock. It moves at a regular beat – 1, 2, 3, 4, – and so on, always remaining at a steady pace. 

BPM is designed to work in a similar way. Some songs may match the natural rhythm of a clock – 1 beat per second. Some songs speed it up, going much faster. Some songs slow it down. 20 BPM isn’t unheard of. 

Why use a metronome? It’s designed to help you gain strength in the way you play. It establishes the way a composer created the song. And it also helps you build up your strength in the way the piece should be played. 

When you sit down to a brand new song, at the top of the page should be a tempo marking. It might be written as BPM (120 bpm) or as a tempo marketing such as “allegro.” Especially as you are learning more about music, it may be difficult to fully appreciate at what level the song should be played. A metronome gives you that sense of rhythm. It can keep the beat for you to follow as you play the song. 

If it’s a fast tempo, it may be hard to begin. Slow it down a bit. Become familiar with the notes and the way the song is played. As your comfort grows, you can increase the beat and pick up the pace until you get it to the desired bpm. 

It’s a way to keep you on track throughout your practice. 

Of course, you can stick with a traditional mechanical metronome. Or invest in an electronic metronome to sit near your practice area. 

Thanks to technology, there are also a variety of apps that can produce the same practice, and allow you to take the technology anywhere. 

What type of metronome do you use during your daily practice?  

Have you ever heard a song that didn’t sound quite right? You couldn’t’ quite put your finger on it, but you knew something was wrong. 

The melody was off. Or maybe it was the harmony. 

Or maybe it was the rhythm. 

When comparing the three, rhythm is by far the one thing that can change the way you play than all the others. 

Why? Sit down and play music with no thought process about rhythm. Just pluck out the notes in a random order. 

Not much of a song, is it? 

Rhythm controls tempo. It sets the speed. It also creates structure. 

Rhythm is the technical part of the song. Have you ever mentally walked through a song, practicing it in your mind before you sit down to play? The best piano players in the world do this continuously in their minds. They see themselves on stage. They hear their music in their minds. And what improves it all is to keep a regular beat. 

A metronome can help you keep that beat. 

Try an experiment. Set the metronome for your desired song. Before you sit down to play it, play it in your mind first, following the beat. See yourself playing it. Hear it in your mind. Hear the rhythm. Feel how you play it. 

Now sit down at the keyboard and play it for real. Do you notice it’s easier?

Also, try using a metronome when you’re first learning a song. Listen to the “tick tick” and adjust your playing to keep up with the beat. Play through difficult passages, playing again and again until you get it right. You can even use the visualization technique with the metronome keeping the beat. 

Do you notice a difference in your playing?