Metronome advice

I have decided to buy a metronome. Any advice on ones to buy or avoid? Should I go with a traditional piano style device? How about the clip-on tuners with built in metronomes; are they any good? Mahalo for the advice!

I have a Korg, its pretty good, I like the tap feature, tap along the tempo for 3 or 5 taps and it sets the tempo to that speed. Also has a built in chromatic tone generator for tuning.

I've got the Apex Electronics. It does the trick and is less than $20. It also includes a tone generator but I found it very difficult to switch between functions (instructions don't tell you how) so I just leave it on metronome. Up/down arrows change the tempo.

I have a Korg. It works fine, but most of the time I just use a metronome app on my phone. I like having the presets so I can easily change to different songs.

2nd the SmartPhone app. They are just so useful and it's with me everywhere.

AB

I love the old fashioned kind. I have a Wittner Taktell Piccolo Metronome. It's small and sounds nice, much better than the beeping of the Korg.

Phone app is the way to go. Lots of options.

There are many opinions on the use of metronomes for practice. The basics argument against is that if you aren't keeping tempo on your own you need to practice it slower until you can, then build speed back up.

kapahulu50 said:

Phone app is the way to go. Lots of options.

There are many opinions on the use of metronomes for practice. The basics argument against is that if you aren't keeping tempo on your own you need to practice it slower until you can, then build speed back up.

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I agree. Ric

http://www.weirdmetronome.com/

Awesome free computer app. It lets you use the computers native midi drum sounds to create any rhythm you want, any time signature. Easy to use

Also there are a lot of crud free metronome apps for Android phones but I found a couple decent ones

I also got a couple free drum machine apps on my phone. You can have the steady tempo of the metronome with a little pizzazz to add to your practice. beep beep boop vs. bmp-ts-ta-ts.

I think it's helpful to have one that you can set to accent the first beat of each measure, then select the time signature. That lets you get into the feel of a style of music such as jazz or polka or whatever.

I have a Korg that does that but the tone is a little corny. One improvement is the metronome feature on my Zoom digital recorder, which will let you select better sounds such as drumsticks.

I use the Korg. Digital is good because you can be precise. A metronome is a useful practice device for many reasons. If you're in a band, like I am, sometimes by agreeing on a metronome setting for a particular song, each band member can practice on their own and be on the same page with the other band members. I only use the metronome when I'm practicing on my own. We never use it when the band is playing together.

Also, sometimes it's possible that you think you are playing the rhythm well when in fact, you're not. The metronome will tell you whether you're on or not. It can be helpful too when you want to start bringing a song up to performance tempo. You can gradually increase the speed.
At some point though, it is important to turn the metronome off and start trusting your own tempo. So, I would say, you need to find a balance between using this tool and not using it. It depends on the song, and on your own style of learning.

I highly recommend the Cherub intelligent metro-tuner. It's big - about 7 inches tall and about 4 inches at the base tapering to an inch and a half at the top. You can adjunct the tempo very precisely, do tons of time signatures, select a sound or even a voice that will count. It even has a red light that goes up and down the body of the metronome in case it is easier for you to see the time than hear it. It has a headphone jack so you could use it while recording without the sounds being in your recording. It also has a volume adjustment and you can turn it up loud enough to be heard in a group.

Besides ukulele, I play in a renaissance trio and since we all play different parts it's important that the timing be pretty precise. We liked the Cherub so much that we each bought one so that we could practice alone but we also use it as a group sometimes when we are learning a new song. This metronome might be overkill for what you would be using it for but you never know how your music might branch out. It takes double A batteries so you don't have to find weird batteries. I've had mine for 2 years and not had to change them so they last a long time.

http://www.cherubtechnology.com/product_detail.php?id=28&id1=34&id2=0

Nix

I use my Wittner piano metronome which I've had for years. The pendulum stem is marked in bpm and it's dead simple to use and plenty loud but not obnoxious.

I like the idea of a tap face metronome (as on the Snark tuners) but the problem with a visual metronome is...it's visual. I do watch the conductor when I sing but I don't watch the headstock when I play uke. Plain and simple. I like to hear the beat.

clayton56 said:

I think it's helpful to have one that you can set to accent the first beat of each measure, then select the time signature. That lets you get into the feel of a style of music such as jazz or polka or whatever.

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I would actually consider this a minimum on any new metronome I purchase - my old one doesn't have this but my software metronome does (actually the software metronome lets you create complex measures in any time signature and assign midi instruments to each beat).

If you're buying a simpler, dedicated hardware metronome, make sure to find one that has a soft "tick" or click sound rather than an annoying electronic "beep" sound. The whole idea with using a metronome is that you should actually not really hear it when you are on the beat. The metronome really only gets your attention when you're not hitting right on the beat. That's also why you want an audible metronome, not a visual one.

John