FRANCISCO CHAVES
B l o g
As a beginner, here is why you shouldn't practice with the metronome
As a music teacher, I often see my beginner students struggling to keep tempo. Usually, the general advice that is given for this problem is always the same: "Practice with the metronome and you will get better!"
In this article I will tell you a much better approach. It relies on changing your mindset, making you stop using the metronome to improve your rhythm. The secret lies in: "audiation" (1) (2) (3).
Audiation is our ability to hear something in our head without hearing it in the real world. It is a term coined by Edwin Gordon. He describes it as: "comprehension and internal realization of music, or the sensation of an individual hearing or feeling sound when it is not physically present. Audiation is to music what thought is to language."
Do not run for the metronome!
Next time, instead of rushing to pick up the metronome, stop, and "AUDIATE" the metronome. Most musicians "follow" the metronome, which makes them unable to keep the tempo as soon as the metronome is turned off. They are not "audiating", imagining the music in their heads and actually "feeling the beat". This creates problems when trying to keep tempo and be rhythmically accurate.
But, as a beginner, how should you start? If I ask a beginner student to clap a steady beat, usually they struggle to keep it even, so, how to solve that?
Practice ideas
Here are some simple things you can do RIGHT NOW to improve your sense of audiation and rhythm:
- Sing a known melody in your head (example: Happy Birthday).
- Then, while singing in your head, clap the beat, imagine you are in a concert and the singer asks you to clap.
Congratulations! Now you should be playing a steady beat! Usually, as soon as you stop thinking about the music and start thinking about the beat, you start to go slower or faster. That happens because you lack the "musical context" that the happy birthday song provides you.
Metronome apps that might help you
The metronome has a quite boring sound, which makes it harder for a beginner to "connect" with the beat, to "feel" the beat, because it's just a simple "tick-tack" with no emotional expression. It doesn't really sound like music. Thus, usually I recommend apps that provide some kind of background drums ("Metrodrum" for example (4)). These apps give us a better "context", so we can relate better to the rhythm.
However, don't follow the apps in a dogmatic way! If you are not careful, you start being "guided" by them. Instead of audiating, you switch into auto-pilot and then they become your "metronome 2.0". We don't want the metronome! We imagine the song, we sing it in our head and we clap the beat. That's the basic of how it works!
Practice ideas for more advanced players
What if I am already at a high level but I still struggle to keep tempo? Do you have any tips for me?
For sure! Usually advanced players struggle with keeping the beat in slow pieces. So, we need to start audiating not only the beat, but the sub-divisions. We can imagine a cymbal in a drum pattern playing every 8th note for example. After we imagine it and audiate it, we can go to the next level and even try to beatbox it out loud while clapping the beat (even if you have no such skills or don't even particularly like the genre!). Saying it out loud adds a physical component and usually makes it harder to go faster.
Audiate everywhere!
Imagination is the key. You can practice audiating everywhere! You can just take a walk and try to sing music in your head while clapping. Instead of using headphones and an Ipod, you use the super powers of your mind! One possible side effect is that you can look a bit crazy to other people (I talk from my own experience!).
After you feel comfortable imagining music, then, before you play anything, you imagine it in your head. You sing internally, and then externally. Even if you sing out of tune or don't enjoy singing, it doesn't matter. We only care about the rhythm and it's something you do when you are alone practicing. Nobody is there to judge your singing skills. After you have done all those steps, then you can play your instrument, always singing internally while playing. This way you are always in control. I guarantee you, that your rhythmical accuracy will improve after you follow these steps.
Conclusion
To conclude, the golden rule is: "If you cannot hear it in your head first, then don't start playing it immediately in your instrument!" Before a soccer/football player goes for the penalty, he prepares himself. He imagines the ball going in the direction he wants. He adjusts his body for the movement. He mentally prepares. After those steps are done, he goes for the kick!
But don't destroy your metronomes just yet! After you took these steps and changed your mindset, then the metronome can come and help you. Now, by listening to a simple "tick-tack", you can now imagine the rest of the song, vocalize some beatbox, clap to the beat and be always, perfectly, in tempo.
Useful links / Sources:
1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMqOOokv4TM
2 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_music_learning_theory