Celestial Resonance Violin Studio--Celeste Ellis Whting

Metronome

Friend or Foe?

Neither! It is just a tool. When properly used, the metronome can aid development of an internal sense of beat, tempo and rhythm. The metronome’s beat doesn’t change in the course of a piece, but ours often does. Difficult passages can slow us and easy or loud sections can tempt players to rush. The metronome can make you aware of these places, which you can then correct in practice sessions. The metronome is also an indispensable tool for acceleration exercises. By gradually increasing the tempo of a passage in practice, your overall speed can greatly increase. The key is to work incrementally.

Before using your metronome, review the following procedure. The goal is to feel the beat in your body and imagine the music to this beat prior to playing.

Procedure for using your metronome
–choose your tempo

–set the metronome in motion

–put your violin in playing position with the bow on the strings

–listen to the beat

–put the beat inside you, move to the beat, place it in a muscle group (tap your foot)

–imagine the music in tempo with the metronome; hear it in your head as you move your body in time

–now you may play

The Metronome Marching Game, for Younger Players

–Using a digital metronome, a leader sets the tempo and the players march in place.

–The leader changes the tempo and the players adjust to the new tempo. The leader should not change the tempo until all players have found the beat and been able to march to it .

Celeste Ellis Whiting, B.M., M.S., is a graduate of the University of Illinois School of Music in Urbana-Champaign. She has also studied at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, and the Meadowmount School of Music in New York. Her primary teachers include John Fredrickson, Catherine Tait, and Alberto Jaffe.

Her violin and music history studies are supplemented by graduate work in music librarianship and bibliography at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science (University of Illinois).

For the last ten years, she has devoted her work to teaching individual students of all ages and ability levels. The threads that run through all these teaching relationships are a deep awareness of the student as a whole person in a complex world and a simple willingness to honor and cultivate a student's genuine desire to learn to play violin. Central to the teaching practice are compassion, challenge and respect.

An experienced reference librarian, she draws upon a world of resources--print, digital, and audio--to create a rich learning experience for students of varying ages, skill levels, and interests.

Conveniently located on the westside of Ann Arbor.

Call today to schedule a lesson or ask about instruction.

(734)998-1097

Contact Celeste by email with any questions or comments.