Metronome - Across the Curriculum

As promised, here are some metronome uses - across the curriculum: 

Math:
*flashcards - esp. multiplication facts or subtraction/addition facts

Language Arts:
* spelling lists - Just like in the movie "Akeelah and the Bee", try spelling the words to a rhythm.  First nice and slow and then speed it up!
* long lists of words --when I was in school we had to learn lists of helping verbs, linking verbs, prepositions, etc.

Social Studies:
*Memorizing the 50 States and capitals --

Christian studies or Bible:
*Memorizing the books of the Bible
*scripture memorization

These are just some that I've used a metronome with.  What creative way can you think to use a metronome? Comment and share with me!

Metronome - Listen Up!!

The metronome is a fantastic tool to use when conducting listening exercises.  When your musician begins learning terms such as Andante, Moderato and Allegro, try this exercise.

Play some recorded music, any style will work, but I would try to get a variety of styles and genres. As the music is playing, find the steady beat of the piece and pat it along with the music. Keep the beat going as you stop the recording and find a matching tempo on the metronome.  Ask questions like these:
Did the song feel like it had a slow, medium or quick tempo?
Which musical term could we use to describe the speed? 
Did the piece stay steady the whole time?
Was it difficult to find the steady beat?

Then move on to a different genre.  Since metronomes are so mobile, you could even take it along with you in the car and analyze the songs on the radio. We do this quite a bit and have fun....especially to some of the music on Radio Disney!

The Metronome ~ Your new best friend!

The metronome. Buy it. Love it. Use it. Its amazing.

The next series of posts will be on some intriguing ways of using a metronome. Most will be for musical purposes, yet a couple will shockingly be out of the realm of music.

The first question is, do you know what a metronome is?  It is a gadget (most of the time electronic) that keeps a steady beat at a myriad of speed possiblities. Some are fancier thn others, with choices of time signature, emphasized downbeat and mute and earbud options.  Amazingly, I have one of these fancy shmancy ones and it was under $25.

Now onto a very basic musical way of using the metronome.
When learning a new piece of music, it is important to encourage confidence in your young musician.  This is achieved by delaying the use of the metronome until a level of comfort is reached with the piece.  Have your musician play through the piece without huge emphasis on beat...yet. After a decent level of comfort is reached (meaning they know the basics of the song and the general idea of fingering and note order). THEN introduce the metronome. 
Set it at a slower speed (maybe as low as 60bpm--beats per minute).  Encourage your child to pat the rhythm to the song on his lap. See post "The Five Senses--Touch" for further explanation of patting. After successfully patting out the song without huge mistakes, you can do one of two things. 1. step up the bpm and have him pat the song on his lap again. Repeat until the tempo--speed, is up to performance tempo.  2. have him now play the piece on the keyboard at the slower speed. Raise the tempo and follow the steps-pat, play; repeat until playing at performance tempo.
If you and your musician are struggling to find the appropriate tempo/bpm for both practice and performance, ask your musician's teacher or look for a recording of it online and time it.
 *Remember, 60 bpm is equal to 60 seconds, so when you're figuring it out, just watch the second hand of your watch.