The top 5 benefits of using a physical metronome

Picture it…

You get home from work and sit down to practice. Just as you start to get into the zone, you grab your phone and open your metronome app to hash out a tricky passage.

But before you know it, you end up checking to see what email just came in. You swipe through your socials and respond to a few texts. Oh, and before you forget, you add bananas to the grocery list.

Suddenly, your practice session is completely derailed, and all momentum is lost – just because you picked up your phone!

While the convenience of a metronome app can’t be beat, I’ll share my top 5 reasons I recommend ditching the apps for a physical metronome as your default tool.

A true

workhorse

My go-to metronome is the Matrix MR-500 Quartz Metronome. I can’t recommend it enough.

Here are the top 5 benefits of using a physical metronome

1. It’s one less distraction

   A physical metronome gives you a bit more freedom to take a break from your phone during practice. It’s one less barrier in place to making practice time YOUR time, free from the distractions of our busy lives.

2. You’re more likely to use it

   There’s something really satisfying about the tactile touch of a physical metronome. With a large clicky dial, bumping the tempo up a click during practice simultaneously sends a mini dopamine hit your way.

   It might sound silly, but I’ve found that students of all ages are more likely to use a metronome that is physically present at the piano – rather than one you have to search for in the mosaic of app icons on your device.

3. You will become tempo literate

   Using a physical metronome will help familiarize you with commonly used tempi (the plural of tempo).

   Metronome tempo markings typically range from 40 to 208, but they aren’t evenly spaced. They start with by jumping in increments of 2 (40, 42, 44, etc.) then 3’s, (60, 63, 66, etc.), 4’s (72, 76, 80, etc.), and so on.

   Although you can freely select your desired tempo on an app, you will also miss out on becoming familiar with the typical tempo numbers. (For example, you might choose a tempo marking of 99 on an app, but in reality, composers would write either 96 or 100 as the common range skips those numbers in between.)

   Composers write these common metronome markings in their music, instructors frequently reference them, and I promise you will benefit from becoming generally more familiar with them – just by using a physical metronome.

4. Tempo vocabulary builder

   You will learn commonly used tempo vocabulary such as Largo, Andante, and Allegro. These Italian terms are printed on most physical metronomes at the corresponding tempo range.

   So again, just by using a physical metronome, you will familiarize yourself with these terms – which also commonly appear above the first measure of classical pieces to indicate the relative speed of the piece.

5. Your new practice buddy

   These things are truly indestructible. Built to withstand the wrath of even the most frustrated musician, the hard plastic case and simple design is incredibly sturdy.

   You could literally throw a quartz metronome at a concrete floor and the worst that will happen is the battery cover will pop off – though I don’t recommend this of course.

   Pay once, and have it virtually forever. No subscriptions or updates needed.

Have I convinced you to try using a physical metronome? If so, I hope you benefit from some newfound peace and productivity during practice!

Additional Resources

• Matrix MR-500 Quartz Metronome – Schmitt Music

• How do musicians know how fast to play a piece? And why are the terms in Italian? – Symphony Nova Scotia