Using a metronome

We have been encouraging our students to practice all year.  Something that can help make this practicing more effective is by practicing with a metronome.  A metronome is a device that keeps tempo.  It can be a great tool when practicing a difficult passage or song.
The best way to use a metronome is to find the harder part of whatever is being practiced and figure out what the fastest tempo this part can be played at, with 100% accuracy.  This is easiest to do by finding that part that needs work, turning the metronome way down, maybe to 50 or 60 beats per minute (BPM) then gradually increasing this until you make a mistake.  Once you make a mistake turn it back to the tempo where you played it correctly.  Then you practice the whole song at that tempo and gradually build speed as you get better.  Here are some links for free online metronomes.  There are also free apps for iPods/phones/pads/etc.

http://simple.bestmetronome.com/
http://www.metronomeonline.com/
http://www.nch.com.au/metronome/index.html  (this one downloads!)
http://www.8notes.com/metronome/

As far as apps go, I recommend the Steinway metronome app, it's free and has some great tools on it.

Now go out and practice!

First Post

Fellow Bandies!

Welcome!  We are going to try this thing out, using it for upcoming events, links for great music-y stuff, and all that jazz!  (See what I did there?) 

We hope that this will be a useful tool for you!  Thank you for all you do and all you are!