Keeping a steady beat is important in music. This week I will be going over a metronome app called Metronome.
What is a metronome? A metronome is a device that produces a sound at regular intervals. You can adjust the speed according to how fast or slow you want the beat. It helps you keep consistent speed (or tempo) for your music.
I don’t usually use a metronome in beginning piano lessons. For beginners, learning to play with the beat can be learned by playing duets and playing along with a recorded accompaniment of the music. As a student progresses, practicing with a metronome can polish a piece as it helps you learn to play at a steady tempo. I like to use it to check my tempo when I am preparing for performing. Sometimes I feel like I am keeping a nice, steady beat but when I play against the metronome, I can find parts of the music where I am speeding up or slowing down.
I have an old metronome from when I took piano lessons as a child. The price tag on the bottom of it says $37.95. They sell for over $100 now if you would buy one today. One nice thing about it, is that besides the BPM (beats per minute), if a song just said Allegro for a tempo marking, there are increments marked within Allegro that you could choose from. It also needs no battery or electricity; you just wind it up.
One of the benefits of having a metronome app, is that it is free, and they can go anywhere you go. With Metronome App, it is straight-forward, you just pick the beats per minute, and you are set to go. Many songs will have the beats-per-minute (BPM) marked at the beginning. That is the speed that you want to aim for as a performance tempo. While practicing, you would want to pick a slower speed that you can play and keep a steady beat.
I think Metronome App is easy to use. I did click on the music note and it brought up some junk that I did not want to be at. Overall, though, I am happy with using the basics on this app and it meets my needs of being convenient and accessible.
The Metronome App
My childhood metronome for piano lessons