Practising with a metronome
- Learn the notes first, with no click: one hand, then the other, then both, slowly enough to find every key before you play it.
- Find the speed printed over the first bar (♩ = 96, say) or, if there is only a word, a speed in its range below. Set the metronome to 60 % of it.
- Play the whole piece with the click. When a take is clean, move up a step; when it falls apart, go back one. 60 %, 80 % and 100 % of the marked speed are the steps Clefsight's practice uses, on the practice chart too.
- Count the beats aloud for the first bars. Turn on Subdivide for the eighth notes when a rhythm keeps rushing.
Tempo words and their speeds
The word over the first bar gives the character as much as the speed. These are the ranges usually quoted; tap one to set the metronome to its middle. More, with the speeds the library's pieces print, in tempo markings.
| Word | Means | Beats a minute |
|---|---|---|
| Largo | broad, very slow | |
| Adagio | slow, at ease | |
| Andante | at a walking pace | |
| Andantino | a little faster than andante | |
| Moderato | moderate | |
| Allegretto | fairly quick, lightly | |
| Allegro | quick and bright | |
| Vivace | lively | |
| Presto | very fast |
Questions
How do I use it?
Press Start, or the space bar. Set the speed with the slider, the − and + buttons or the arrow keys (Shift and an arrow moves by 10), or tap Tap tempo four or more times at the speed you want. Choose the time signature to hear the first beat of each bar accented, and Subdivide to hear the half beats too.
What speed should I practise a piece at?
Slower than you think. Learn the notes with no metronome at all, then play the whole piece steadily at 60 %, 80 % and 100 % of its marked speed, moving up only when a take at one speed is clean. For a piece marked 100, that is 60, 80 and 100. The list under the metronome works these out for the speed it is set to.
Why two clicks a bar in 6/8?
In 6/8 the beat is the dotted quarter note: two beats a bar, each split in three eighth notes. Most 6/8 metronome marks count dotted quarters, so set the speed to the mark and turn on Subdivide to hear the eighths.
The click sounds late, or uneven. Why?
The clicks are timed by your device's sound system, not the page, so they stay even while you switch to another tab. Bluetooth headphones and speakers add a delay you can hear against your own playing: use the device's own speakers or wired headphones. Phones may silence a page when the screen locks, so keep the screen on.
Which pieces are printed at this speed?
72 of the 373 pieces in Clefsight's library print a metronome mark. Under the metronome are the ones within 8 beats a minute of its speed; open one to see the score, print an easier version, or play it at a MIDI keyboard with the same click, graded note by note.
Play with the click at a keyboard. Connect a MIDI keyboard and Clefsight plays this click under a real printed page, then marks every note early, late, missed or right.
Choose a pieceRead the rhythm before you play it: how to read rhythm, time signatures, the note values chart, or tap bars in time in the rhythm reading game.