How do I play Violin with a metronome ? Is playing the violin with the metronome a wise idea ?

Question

I have read it online that we must play violin with metronome but I have no idea how it is done ?

Do you play one stroke when the metronome beats once or twice ?

Answer 1

Yes as the others have said, you play so that your notes are in time with the metronome beats. Try to play so that your notes and the metronome sound as one, e.g. you can try pizzicato so you can hear the start of the beat clearly. Then see if you can play so close to the beat that the two sounds merge.



That's one excercise you can do anyway. It's great for honing your sense of time and short time intervals and how closely you are in time with other musicians.



You can also try playing just before the beat - then get as close as you can to the beat while still staying before it - and ditto playing just after - then finally play exactly on the beat as exactly as you can. This all helps you to be more flexible.



In fact, it may be interesting to know that in ensembles some musicians will play intentionally before or after the beat like that too - e.g. percussion often just before, and a solo musician may be well ahead or behind the rest of the band or orchestra, depending on the feel of the music. You might think that would sound bad, but it sounds great - I think what makes it sound good is that they do it consistently, so if you are ahead, you stay ahead for as many measures as you want to, not just go all over the place as a beginner does. After practicing a bit like this you can try listening to music and see if you can hear if the musicians are all on the beat or some are in front or behind it.



Yes you can overdo metronome practice. The metronome has a steady clock like click - while human players play with a lilt, so the beats are slightly uneven and the music "dances" more. This is something you just do naturally. You don't feel the music make you want to dance to a metronome or a clock in the way you do when a musician plays who has an excellent sense of rhythm.



But the metronome is great for learning to keep a steady tempo. Also you can use the merge with click exercise to learn to hear the moment of the beat more precisely - this helps you to play better in time with other musicians as well. Another nice thing you can do is to set the metronome to go silent for a few measures, and continue playing. When it comes back again then see if you are still in time with it - this is a test of how steady a tempo you can keep.



Also good if you can set it to a gradually changing tempo as that's another skill that is well worth leaning,



Anyway I have written a metronome program that has many features to help you play in time. Particularly the "Gravity Bounce Conductor". It is like your own software conductor to help you to play in time with the metronome, you can also switch the sound off and use it as a silent metronome.



It also has a gradually changing tempo feature, options to add a lilt or swing - so varying the timing so that it is less of a steady tick and more natural to play along with - and a GO SILENT feature so you can set it to go silent for a few meausres and see if you can come back in time with it - and many more features. Had a good (printed) review eariler this year in Sound on Sound magazine and has lots of users who are very keen on it.



So you can check it out here:



http://bouncemetronome.com

Answer 2

You should start with a very easy piece and set the metronome so that playing that piece is not too fast for you; usually you would set a tempo so that one beat is a quarter note. Getting used to playing with a metronome can be frustrating, but once you are good at it it will be an immense help with music, because you will have learned to play with a beat that comes from outside. You need this skill to play in groups that have a conductor (you play in time with the conductor's beat, as he is "the metronome") and also if you play in a group without a conductor, such as a string quartet. In that case, the quartet is "the metronome" and you follow as best you can what is going on around you. If everyone has this skill you will be able to play together. If someone doesn't have this skill, they will go wandering off on their own and then blame everyone else for not being with them!



I've seen two different people have immense trouble playing with a metronome, and they were both doing the same thing: they were waiting until they heard the metronome click, and then they played right after that. When you're using a metronome, your stroke has to be exactly with the metronome beat, so that you even drown it out....you don't play "after" you hear the metronome, you play "exactly at the same time" as the metronome.



Good luck, and have fun with music.

Answer 3

The metronome is just to help you keep a steady tempo. In a 4/4 you'd probably play one quarter note per click, unless you wanted to practice something slowly when you might set it to click on every eighth note.



There is no real rule. You set the metronome to whatever beat you think will help you accomplish what you want to practice.

Answer 4

It depends on what time signature your piece is in. Each beat is one quarter note, so the number of strokes depends on whether it's a quarter note, whole note, eighth note, 16th note, 32nd note, etc. It helps for beginners, but once you get better you will develop an internal pulse and know approximately what 60 is or 150 to 160 is tempowise. Then you can play without metronomes, but they still help for tricky rhythms and passages.

Answer 5

Your metronome is used as a guide to pace yourself. You change the speed of the metronome to suit the pace of the piece you are playing.

Answer 6

No. I started at age 37. And yes, I did play in public when I was in a band, and some people said they liked hearing me play.... but they might have had too lmany beer, I dunno... It would have been better to have started earlier, say at age 3, since my wrists hurt if I play more than abut 10-15 minutes. As for the injured pinkie, it will either callous up or you can learn to play without using it. Read up on guitarist Django Rheinhard, inventor of Gypsy Jazz. Two of his fretting fingers on his left hand were fused together after he was injured in a serious fire as a teen, but it didn't stop him from being a true guitar god. So rosin up that bow, and play Orange Blossom Special for me. Please.