Editing Metronome (section)

===Criticisms===
Unlike approximate and descriptive [[tempo markings]], a published metronome speed indicates a highly specific tempo that cannot adapt to variations in musical aesthetics, concert hall acoustics, or the instruments themselves.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Noorduin|first=Marten|date=August 2018|title=Re-examining Czerny's and Moscheles's Metronome Marks for Beethoven's Piano Sonatas|journal=Nineteenth-Century Music Review|volume=15|issue=2|pages=209–235|doi=10.1017/S1479409817000027|s2cid=193737315|url=https://pure.manchester.ac.uk/ws/files/53285245/div_class_title_re_examining_czerny_s_and_moscheles_s_metronome_marks_for_beethoven_s_piano_sonatas_div.pdf }}</ref> This is one reason why composers including [[Felix Mendelssohn]] and [[Richard Wagner]] have criticized the publication of metronome marks.<ref>{{cite web|title=Thoughts on Tempi|url=http://www.whitwellessays.com/docs/DOC_94.doc|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080409172631/http://www.whitwellessays.com/docs/DOC_94.doc|archive-date=2008-04-09|work=Essays on the Origins of Western Music|first=David|last=Whitwell}}</ref> As [[Johannes Brahms]] once commented regarding his [[A German Requiem (Brahms)|''German Requiem'']]: "I think here as well as with all other music, the metronome is of no value. As far at least as my experience goes, everybody has, sooner or later, withdrawn his metronome marks."<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_BfsLAQAAIAAJ/page/n81/mode/2up |title=Personal Recollections of Johannes Brahms |first=George |last=Henschel |date=1907 |access-date=2024-03-17 |page=78}}</ref>

A metronome only provides a fixed, continuous beat. Therefore, metronome markings on [[sheet music]] provide a reference, but cannot accurately communicate the [[pulse (music)|pulse]], [[swung note|swing]], or [[groove (music)|groove]] of music. The pulse is often irregular, e.g., in accelerando, rallentando, or expressive [[musical phrasing]] such as rubato.<ref>London, Justin. [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/45964 "Pulse"]. In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, (accessed July 28, 2008)</ref> Even such highly rhythmical musical forms as [[samba]], if performed in a culturally authentic style consistent with recordings by early practitioners, cannot be captured with the beats of a metronome. Performances that are unfailingly regular rhythmically might be criticized as being ''metronomic'', lacking the characteristic swing of the genre.<ref>{{cite web |last=Batista |first=Pedro |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091026191323/http://geocities.com/sd_au/samba/sambadrums.html |title=Understanding the Samba groove |url=http://www.geocities.com/sd_au/samba/sambadrums.html |archive-date=2009-10-26}}</ref>

Some have argued that "the metronome has no real musical value", hurting rather than helping musicians' sense of rhythm. The use of a metronome has been compared to the difference between mechanically-aided and freehand drawing, in that the output with a metronome is said to be rigid and hampering creativity.<ref>Brown, James (1927-08-01). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/913829 "The Amateur String Quartet"]; ''[[The Musical Times]]'', Vol. 68, No. 1014, pp. 714–716.</ref> American composer and critic [[Daniel Gregory Mason]] wrote that the use of the metronome is "dangerous" because it leads musicians to play by the [[measure (music)|measure]] or beat instead of the [[musical phrasing|phrase]], at the expense of liveliness, instinct, and rhythmical energy, "a dead body in place of the living musical organism".<ref>[[Daniel Gregory Mason|Mason, Daniel Gregory]] (December 1909). [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015025416416&seq=37 "The Tyranny of the Bar-Line"]. ''The New Music Review and Church Music Review'' (American Guild of Organists); vol. 9, no. 97, pp. 31–33.</ref> Even proponents of the metronome have warned that its strict speed and repetition can hinder internal rhythm and musicality when "over-used".<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.pianopractice.org/FOPP3_2Single.pdf |title=Fundamentals of Piano Practice |edition=3rd |first=Chuan C. |last=Chang |isbn=978-1523287222 |year=2016 |access-date=2024-02-15 |page=31|publisher=Createspace Independent Publishing Platform }}</ref>