The Metronome is a music timing device. It helps keep steady timing while practicing music.
It is worthy to note that one of the three foundational elements of music is Rhythm which defines a music’s pattern in time.
Music will be incomplete,chaotic and less enjoyable without Rhythm, hence we employ the use of metronome to keep time while Practicing tunes.
As time goes on you would be able to keep time without using the metronome always however, it is recommended that you use the Metronome at an early state of learning which is now.
How to get the Metronome
Electronic Keyboards/Pianos comes with inbuilt Metronome by default, however you can still download a Digital Metronome App on your mobile devices such as Android and IOS Smartphones.
Here are two Metronome apps I would recommend on the Google Playstore
- Pro Metronome
- SoundCorset
You can also find their equivalent on the Apple Appstore
How to use the Metronome
As a beginner there are two things you have to understand to set the Metronome right for practice
- Time Signature
- Tempo in Beats Per Minute (BPM)
Time Signature is the number of beats(counts) in a Measure.
4/4 means 4 beats/counts in a measure.
3/4 means 3 beats/counts in a measure.
2/4 means 2 beats/counts in a measure.
Each measure is divided by a bar line thus, you would count as indicated for a 4/4 time signature below :
1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4
For a 3/4 time signature it is : 1 2 3 | 1 2 3 | 1 2 3
For a 2/4 time signature it is : 1 2 | 1 2 | 1 2
The most commonly used time signature is the 4/4 time signature hence it is what we will practice with for now.
Set the 4/4 time signature on your Metronome. You would see it on the screen if you have set it correctly and once you click the play button on the metronome app, it will count 1234 accurately.
You would also notice two different sounds like :
“Tick” at the beginning of every measure or bar (on every “1”)
“Tack” Sound for the rest of the counts (2 3 4)
Here’s what I mean :
1 (Tick) 2 (Tack) 3 (Tack) 4 (Tack) | 1 (Tick) 2 (Tack) 3 (Tack) 4 (Tack)
Now that you have understood Time Signature , Let’s proceed to Tempo (BPM)
TEMPO simply has to do with how fast your timing will be which is usually measured in Beats Per Minute (BPM).
On your metronome there is a setting for this.
60bpm simply means 60 beats/counts in a minute.
you can either increase it or reduce it based on your preference.
I recommend you start very slow like 50bpm before increasing to 60bpm, 80bpm or 120bpm depending on how good you are on slower beats.
Now let’s Practice the C Major Scale using the Metronome
Remember to :
- Set the Time Signature to 4/4 common time.
- Set the Tempo to 60bpm (set to 50bpm if it’s to fast for you).
- Hit the Play/Start button on the Metronome.
Now go play C on every “1” or “Tick” sound.
Do this repeatedly.
Now let’s proceed to playing the entire C Major Scale C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C
Press C note on the 1 (Tick)
Press D note on the 2 (Tack)
Press E note on the 3 (Tack)
Press F note on the 4 (Tack)
Press G note on the 1 (Tick)
Press A note on the 2 (Tack)
Press B note on the 3 (Tack)
Press C note on the 4 (Tack)
Descending the C Major Scale
Press C note on the 1 (Tick)
Press B note on the 2 (Tack)
Press A note on the 3 (Tack)
Press G note on the 4 (Tack)
Press F note on the 1 (Tick)
Press E note on the 2 (Tack)
Press D note on the 3 (Tack)
Press C note on the 4 (Tack)
Do this repeatedly,
Increase the Tempo but make sure your timing is accurate with the Metronome to keep Rhythm,
Congrats!!!
Now you can try other Major Scales too using the Metronome practice template I just gave you and achieve smoothness in timing (Rhythm).
See you in the next Lesson…