How to Practice Violin with Metronome

A metronome is useful for a violinist to assist him/her to play in a steady beat. A metronome is an essential and a useful tool for a violinist. Playing the violin using a metronome may be difficult at first, but with time, you will find it to be a wonderful tool. The metronome assists you to count and to keep proper meter. You just set or change the speed of beat on the metronome and it will click depending on the number of beats per minute (BPM) that you set. Here are a few tips that will help you to practice your violin with metronome:

1. First and foremost, set a fixed time each day for your violin practice, at the same time every day. This can run up to 30 minutes to 1 hour. Practicing with a metronome also requires a lot of dedication in order to improve your skills. Remember to do a 5 minute physical stretching before starting the session.

2. Make sure that you are familiar with the notes with no regard to a rigid time. Feel the chords and the patterns. Take your time to memorize the notes. After that, then turn on your metronome.

3. Start slow. Slow down the difficult passages and ensure that the pace is consistent. Start up with long, slow notes in order to warm up the rosin on your bow as well as to smooth out the tone. After playing through a passage slowly without making mistakes, and without tension while playing, you can then increase the metronome speed by about five clicks and play once again.

4.After you have played the scales with whole notes, half and quarter notes, you can now move up the scale in triplets or groups of sixteenths. You can now practice arpeggios at a slower tempo and turn up the speed gradually.

5. Identify the problem spots. Work on the difficult passages and perfect them. Increase the metronome speed, only when the passage has no error and you are completely comfortable with it.

6. Practice the difficult motion in isolation, over and over again with the metronome off. Learning vibrato by rolling your wrist, forearm and fingers in time with a slow beat will ensure that you are relaxed while playing the beat.

7. At this point, turn on your metronome and you will discover that you can now play through the beat and surpass what used to be your stress spots and even push up the tempos to higher levels without stress.

8. Identify new problem spots and refine your technique using the same procedure we just went through.

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