Star Piano Studio

 

Good for you for deciding to work with the metronome.  While metronomic playing is not ideal for a musical performance, using the metronome during your practice sessions can be a way to develop accuracy and fluency in your playing. 

Much like running "drills," the metronome is a good way to test your note accuracy; build stamina and speed; and to maintain an awareness of a steady tempo across the architecture of a composition.

Some goals for metronome use include drills that allow you to develop an awareness of fingering, harmonic changes, fluency with notes, rhythmic accuracy, working out ornamentation, and developing a steady tempo, with a sense of the composition's rhythmic pulse.

In practice, it's advisable to slowly work up to the suggested or ideal metronome speed, playing only as fast as you can without any slips.

Here's a general process, for example:

 

1. First, be already fairly secure with the notes of the composition.  
 

2. Begin working about half the recommended speed, hands separate.

*For many students, the most difficult part is the first three or so days, in attempts to "iron out" rough patches so they become as smooth as those easier parts. Be patient with yourself, and be diligent.
*Aim for accuracy. Check the fingering.  If necessary, work on small sections: a bar, a chord change, a phrase, until things flow smoothly.

 

3. Ready for a slightly faster tempo? Once you are able to play hands separately several times in a row at one speed, then you can push the tempo a little faster (say,  the next "click" or about 2-4 numbers up). 
*Stay at this new, faster tempo until you can play without mistakes. 

4. Daily "drills":  repeat the process until you can reach the ideal tempo.

*You may find that some parts are easier than others at the slow tempo. In this case, focus on the difficult sections.  
* In challenging sections, isolate the cause of the difficulty, and work on particular spots: block broken chord changes, for example, or work phrase by phrase with an awareness of articulation or touch. 
*If necessary, return to the slower tempo to work out difficult spots, before pushing ahead. Stay at the one tempo until you can play at the "speed of accuracy." 
*As things get easier, focus on incorporating more details: phrasing, dynamics, articulation.

 

5. Once hands separate are comfortable up to tempo, repeat the above steps with hands together work. 

*Again, the toughest part is often the first step of fitting everything into one "mistake-free" tempo.  After this, increasing the metronome speeds should come more easily. 
*When working on challenging sections, it sometimes helps to take a "running leap" a few bars before the section begins. 


For extremely long compositions, it's advisable to work on smaller sections each day, until you an then play the entire composition without slips and in one tempo.

Once you feel comfortable playing your composition at the ideal tempo, focus on feeling an inner-sense of rhythmic pulse, and use of agogics or rubato within the underlying tempo marking, in order to express a sense of cohesiveness in your performance.

Ultimately, the metronome drills of what is on the page should allow you to develop technical proficiency, which becomes a powerful step towards unfolding a performance rich in an understanding of the music beyond the page.