Finding Metronomial Harmony

For many of us, the steady click of a metronome can feel like a mechanical judge, highlighting every tiny flaw in our timing. But the real value of the metronome is as a tool for developing autonomy, deep focus, and what psychologists call “procedural memory”— the automatic physical execution that allows us to focus entirely on musical artistry (expressiveness) during performance. We want to develop our inner sense of the pulse of music.

Whether we have come to band membership as seasoned musicians or at the start of a delayed musical life project, we can all benefit from re-visiting our relationship with the click machine and learn more productive techniques that can transform our individual personal practice.

The traditional method:

We’re going to assume that you have found a digital or analogue metronome that suits your needs. There are many options – talk to your music teacher, your band music director, or fellow band members, and try a few out.

OK, so you know the standard drill about using a metronome during music practice: set the right tempo, start the click track and begin playing…what’s so difficult about that? It might be worthwhile first re-examining the basic steps, and then setting it up as a more focussed part of your practice routine.

Firstly, how do you set the right tempo? This depends on what you need to develop in your own musicality. Do you keep on finding yourself ahead of, or behind, the beat during band rehearsal – do you need to perfect your time-keeping skills? Or, do you struggle to meet the technical demands of a music passage – too many notes and not enough time? Each of these issues needs its own approach.

To start with, establish control by finding your “flawless” tempo - you may need to halve the final performance speed to achieve accuracy without effort. Before introducing fingerings or slide positions, play the passage on a single note (or buzz it on your mouthpiece) strictly to the click. This isolates purely temporal accuracy – count mentally, and listen carefully for any discrepancy. Record yourself and play it back immediately, if you are finding it hard to be certain.

The key to making efficient and effective progress is to increase the metronome tempo ONLY when you have completed at least three repetitions without any errors, AND only increase by 2 – 4 BPM at a time.

For short tricky passages (e.g. 5 – 8 semiquavers), the best approach is to isolate the passage and build so-called “muscle memory” by starting with two notes and adding one note at a time to extend the phrase (sometimes called “chaining”). Recent brain research supports the idea of building such phrases at the level of the final performance tempo, rather than starting slow and then increasing – due in part to different patterns of muscle activity during faster fingering. You can try each method and find out what works best for you!

“Advanced” methods – only for those who like a challenge!

If you want to genuinely test your internal sense of time - and give your brain a serious workout - try gap-clicking or the disappearing beat. Rather than letting the metronome handhold you through every single pulse, challenge yourself to become the timekeeper.

Instead of setting your metronome to click on every crotchet (beats 1, 2, 3, 4), try one of these more advanced variations:

Cut the metronome tempo exactly in half. If your march is at 120 BPM, set the click rate to 60 BPM but treat those clicks only as beats 1 and 3 (or, for swing charts, beats 2 and 4). Count the full count aloud (i.e. 1-2-3-4) to place the “missing” beats between the clicks – eventually, your brain must internalise and subdivide the missing beats accurately. If you need to work in “cut time”, count the clicks as 1 and 2, adding “e-and-a” to the gaps.

Set the metronome so it clicks exactly once per bar (e.g., clicking only on the downbeat of beat 1). If you arrive at the next downbeat rushing or dragging against the click, you know exactly where your internal rhythm faltered.

Here’s a technique to really set you apart as a time-keeping hero! Find a modern metronome app with a “Random” function (like Time Guru - iOS screenshot pictured above) and set the "random mute" function to 20%. The metronome will randomly leave out clicks. If you trip up when the sound drops out, you know you are relying too heavily on external tracking rather than your internal clock!

You can hear a bit more about this from an expert in both neurobiology and musicology here!