Hi all,
I am wondering whether everyone would use the metronome when practising your piano pieces. i am so depressed that my teacher is continously forcing me to use it.. But the case is i don't like it as its sound is so ignoring and it's quite boring to play "accordingly". I am even thinking if using metronome would block my way to express my feeling when playing the piano. Besides, I know the reasons for using it is to keep the beats correct and work for faster speed. however, i think i can do these well without it but can't in the other way round as I am too afraid to play with it in front of my teacher. So what should I do? I feel that my teacher starts to dislike me because of my poor attitude of not using it. Am I wrong at some points too? Any help, suggestions or comments would be appreciated.

i hardly ever used a metronome until recently with my grade 8 pieces.

what you need to do is just turn on the metronome for the first few bars of the piece to get your ear in and then get someone to turn it off 4 you whilst you are playing.

metronomes are evil and will make your playing a misery if you don't use them properly.

you're perfectly correct in saying that metronomes limit expression - rubato etc. but beware this should never be so completely off time that the entire rhythm of the piece is ruined.

as long as you keep a steady rhythm through out the piece all will be fine.

Your teacher probably wants you to use the metronome to keep a steady speed throughout the piece. Its easy when you are practising something to play the more difficult bars slightly slower and easier bars faster without realising. As I haven't heard you play anything I can't be sure, but this is one of the more likely reasons for using the metronome.

There could be a really good reason for your teacher asking you to use a metronome in practice.
Maybe you have problems playing in time? Or keeping a fairly steady pulse going?

I often practise with a metronome. Its important to be able to play completely in time with a rhythm, especially if you ever want to make it into a band/group. Its necessary to get a good sense of timing for when you need to improvise, ie. a few weeks ago while at a gig, me and the drummer did a completely improvised 10min bass/drums jam, in which he changed the tempo/timing 7 times. Had to listen carefully for that!

I find it dificult to use the metronome when I play as well becasue I try to stay with it and end up playing every note on the beats the metronome counts so I know what you mean. But I have to admit, it is helpful.
What I suggest you do is, if your teacher specifies a bar or phrase which he/she believes you are playing wrong then when you are on your own listen to the metronome then turn it off and practice that bit. When you think you have got it right, put on the metronome and then play that section. if you are playing it right then the metronome shouldn't be a problem.
When your teacher comes, they won't tell you to use the metronome if you are playing it right. The metronome is only used to correct yourself.

QUOTE (khamy @ Apr 1 2005, 06:24 AM)

imetronomes are evil and will make your playing a misery if you don't use them properly.

I agree !!!!!!!!!

When I have difficult rhythms to work out I find that, once I have a fair idae of the notes, I take them for a walk .

I go out for a walk and, using my footsteps to keep time, work out how the awkward passage fits together. I find this helps to really feel how it all goes together.

The main use of a metronome in practice is to help you learn difficult passages.

The trick is to set the metronome to a speed where you can confidently play the passage in question, however slowly that is.

Then increase the speed of the metronome one notch at a time, only increasing the speed when you have played the passage correctly several times at the current level.

You'll find there's a limit to how much you can do this in one practice session, but when you come back next time, your playing will have improved and you can continue to increase the speed.

The method works because you are playing the passage correctly (even if it's slowly), and so your fingers will go to the right place each time.

I think it is quite useful to play along with a metronome from time to time to help with specific areas, or to just help you keep up an even tempo. Of course it is just a tool to help you improve your technique and not meant to be used for when you are playing with expression.

One question though, why is it that you find it so difficult to play along with a metronome? Keeping time is very important and if you find it hard to keep in time with a metronome you may find it hard keeping in time playing with others which is a fundamental musical skill.

i never used to play much with a metronome as i did find it got annoying after a while. but now i use it quite a lot , to help in difficult parts, and to get ideas of speed etc.

and i swear it gets gradually faster.......maybe thers a ghost hee

QUOTE (noodle @ Apr 1 2005, 09:47 AM)

Your teacher probably wants you to use the metronome to keep a steady speed throughout the piece.  Its easy when you are practising something to play the more difficult bars slightly slower and easier bars faster without realising. As I haven't heard you play anything I can't be sure, but this is one of the more likely reasons for using the metronome.

I agree. Being able to use a metronome is a very useful skill, and I encourage everyone to think of the metronome as a wonderful tool for their whole musical life, not just something your teacher "makes you" use. Learning to play with a metronome is another skill that needs practice, but I do think it's well worth making the effort. If you spend a bit of time with the metronome each time you practise it will turn into a friend rather than The Enemy.

As a professionally trained musician I very rarely go through a complete practice session without using mine, for various purposes. I like to be sure that I can play something at a really steady pace so that if I decide to make the speed more "elastic" in performance I'm doing it deliberately and not by accident!

I'm an accompanist, so I often need to be able to play a piece at a speed that someone else has chosen. I need to be sure that I can actually do that, and preferably play it accurately even faster in case the other person suddenly changes their mind or goes faster than usual in performance. People quite often do that when they are nervous.

Quite often I need to decide on an appropriate metronome mark for a piece, perhaps to tell a student what speed I want them to aim at, or to tell other members of a group I'm playing with. In that situation I always always play right through the piece (or the section that's supposed to be at the same speed) before deciding. Sometimes a particular speed seems fine at the beginning, but something busier later on may feel rushed, or a passage with lots of long notes may feel too static.

It's enough just to play the first few bars of something with the metronome (which someone else suggested) if you want to work on the piece with expression and just need to remind yourself of the speed you want it to go at.

i only use my metronome when i think my timing is out and that is all you need it for really if your tutor is pressurising you to use the metronome then maybe you need to have a word with your tutor if he/she continues to pressure you into using it then maybe he isent the right tutor

my teacher normally only really asks me to use the metronome when i am playing fast pieces with a strict beat or scales. You REALLY can notice the difference when you have finished though because it sounds alot more even!!

QUOTE (khamy @ Mar 31 2005, 10:24 PM)

i hardly ever used a metronome until recently with my grade 8 pieces. what you need to do is just turn on the metronome for the first few bars of the piece to get your ear in and then get someone to turn it off 4 you whilst you are playing. metronomes are evil and will make your playing a misery if you don't use them properly. you're perfectly correct in saying that metronomes limit expression - rubato etc. but beware this should never be so completely off time that the entire rhythm of the piece is ruined. as long as you keep a steady rhythm through out the piece all will be fine.

I hate my metrenome...It caused a deep scratch on my shiny new piano...

I feel that a metronome can become like a crutch. We need to learn to hear and feel our inner metronome as it were.

I am always rather suspicious of teachers who are so insistant on these kinds of things. Doesn't sound like the teacher is working with you here.

A metronome can be very helpful, bit as Hammerklavier rightly states, you eventually have to rely on your inner metronome. I often use a metronome to slow down a section and play it in time with the metronome at that speed, then work up to tempo. In pieces with rubato or several tempo or meter changes, a metronome is less effective, and some pieces are not [I]supposed to sound so metronomic.

Metronomes are useful, but use with caution.