Seems that when I come to an easy passage, both of them slooow way down. However, whenever a approach a rapid, tricky passage they speed way up.

Should I contact the mauufactuters?

Reminds me of the "Miracle of thr Thermos Bottle" - it keeps hot things hot and cold things cold - but how does it know!!?

Try putting two cups of coffee, and an ice-cream in, and you will find out :-)

I don't know how many times I've wanted to throw my metronomes in the ocean or at least out the window. They can be mean but necessary little objects in our quest to become better pianists.

Keep working - eventually those metronomes will get in sync with your playing.

Dr. J

With the proper ice cream, it sounds delicious.

Those metronomes can be really pesky At least you're the only one playing. You should hear it when it starts getting out of sync with our whole band Pandemonium. I once finished two measures ahead of a fiddler

After they've been worn in for awhile though, they settle down -

Cathy

Funny how that works, isn't it?

Ed

OMG! I remember that commercial. Thanks for making me laugh!

I don't think your metronomes are broken. It's your time that's broken particularly if you find they're slowing down when the music is easy.

Try these tips and see how they work for you.

1) Set the metronome much slower than you normally play the piece. Play with the metronome and COUNT OUT LOUD the beats.

This will force you to stay with the metronome. Keep slowing down the metronome and your playing until the two match. This might mean a really slow tempo, but it pays off on the end.

If you're still having problems, you can try another two things:

2) Subdivide the measures so that the metronome is playing with each eigth note and you're counting these as quarters.

This will force you to play evenly and slowly. Again count out loud with the beats. By this time, your family will think you're crazy if they hang around you while you practice, but in the end they'll be thankful when your time is accurate.

3) Set a pulsed beat if you can. Some metronomes have a Ding-sound or bell for the first beat of each measure.

When you play along with the metronome, aim to keep the accented beat on the first beat of each measure. If you can't, you're playing still too fast and you need to slow down until the two of you can work together nicely.

When I first got a metronome, I couldn't play along with it at all. Eventually everything clicked into play, and now it's my best piano practicing friend I have.

Throw your metronomes away! I used to teach guitar at a Dallas music store that sold pianos and organs as well as guitars and such. This was before I began teaching piano. There was a piano sales lady who didn't know I played piano, but she came to me and said, "Can you teach me how to play piano?"

I had heard her play and she played beautifully, so I asked, "What do you mean? You play beautifully."

She replied, "Well, I play on these electronic organs all day every day and they all have the drums or metronome built in. But when I get home to my baby grand, with no metronome, I can't keep a beat."

Let me repeat that. She said, "I CAN'T KEEP A BEAT!"

She had become so dependent on the electronic beat keepers that she could not play without one. So THROW YOUR METRONOMES AWAY!!!!

Just because one person has suffered from using a metronome doesn't mean the rest of us will.

I agree. The metronome is an aid to playing accurately and shouldn't be used to play along with all the time. Overall my time is pretty steady. I've proven this to myself when I though I was way off by playing chamber music. When I play along with other people, whether it's in a duet or in an ensemble, I seem to keep up with the other people and they seem to follow along with me without problems.

The biggest help in internalizing time-based movements is to count them out loud. By doing this the body begins to feel the time, and the feeling will eventually become second nature. Even today, when I have a problem with the rhythm or time in a section, I will count out load, subdivide, clap, or even walk the time so I can feel it. Once the time has become internalized, I have no problems afterwards.

John