Clarification

Yesterday I received a comment from Dave Grossman on my metronome blog and I wanted to thank Dave for reading my blog, contemplating the contents and taking the time to comment. One of my goals is to have a discussion with readers and appreciate the input.

I wanted to clarify a few points regarding the metronome issue. Many musicians and music educators believe in metronomes and the value thereof. I don't have a problem with that. My personal issue is that people put too much emphasis on the use of metronomes. I find it interesting that the supporters of metronomes in musical education constantly ask for proof that metronomes aren't effective in learning and developing an inner time source.

Personally, I believe that no one will be able to prove the effectiveness of metronomes in a positive or negative way unless scientific studies are conducted. Since this question is really not of the greatest importance there will never be funding available to conduct such a study. In the meantime we can look at results from different music schools that heavily utilize metronomes or condemn them. But the results of such comparisons are always flawed since the students at these schools have different backgrounds in their music education prior to taking lessons.

What Jeff Berlin reports from his Players school (and this is reported as well by review boards) is that he sees great improvement and success rates with his students. This is great for him and the method he employs. Undoubtedly there are other schools worldwide that reach similar results even though they use metronomes during lessons.

Another issue raised is that it is vitally important for aspiring musicians today to be able to play with a click track. What you would accomplish by practicing with a metronome is exactly that, being able to play with a click track. However, if you practice your instrument and develop a good sense of time by doing so, you will automatically be able to play with a click track. You don't have to dedicate time to learn playing with a click track.

When I first read about Jeff's outspoken opinion about metronomes I reacted similar to most musicians, surely he can't be serious! A metronome was something every musician would have in their home and use when they saw fit. I also overlooked the subtle statement that the metronome simply doesn't contribute to the improvement of the internal sense of time in Jeff's opinion until he explained that to me. Misunderstanding and misinterpretation of statements is easy and widespread. After Jeff's explanation I started to think about my own development on the guitar for the past 25+ years. I was quite surprised when I came to the following conclusion:

When I started learning to play guitar in 1982 I received classic guitar lessons. My teachers over the next 10 years did not use a metronome during lessons or advised me to do so. I must have done some good practicing because in the late 80s I even made it to State championships.

I bought my first electric guitar in 1986 and taught myself Blues and improvisation through books and listening to records. In 1989 I went to a popular music school to take electric guitar lessons and participate in band and studio workshops. During the studio workshops we would record tracks with a click and the results good. At the time, I never even thought that playing with a click would impose a challenge. I didn't experience any. If you know your instrument, the material you play and you developed a good sense of time you will be able to play with a click.

It wasn't until I started college in 1992 that I experienced lessons with metronomes. However, these were not individual lessons but groups with bass, piano and guitar for example. Overall, I can say I never used a metronome much, I never even thought about it much in the first place.

What surprises me is that no matter how progressive musicians are in developing their own art they tend to be quite conservative in their views on teaching and slow in adapting new methods. Just because a majority of people does things a certain way doesn't mean it's the right way or the best way. If you create good and positive results with your method, I am happy for you and can only encourage you to carry on. If another method causes you to reflect on your method and incorporate changes I encourage you as well. To me life is not black and white or right and wrong. And the majority doesn't always get it right.

To be perfectly clear, I don't condemn metronomes. They have never been important to me. I don't believe that they help develop ones sense of time or speed up the process. Learning music and an instrument takes time, practice and focus. There are millions of people in the world over the course of history and today that learned playing in time without ever using a metronome.