Editing Metronome (section)

==Alternatives to metronome use==
If a musician decides not to use a metronome, other methods are required to deal with timing and tempo glitches, rushing and dragging. These strategies may also be combined with [[#Metronome technique|metronome technique]] as a complementary approach.

Humans rely on an innate sense of rhythm to perform ordinary activities such as walking, hammering nails or chopping vegetables. Even speech and thought have a rhythm of sorts. Author/drummer Andrew C. Lewis recommends working to bring these everyday rhythms into music:

{{quotation |"Rhythm is everywhere. Be sensitive to it, and stay aware of spontaneous occurrences that can spur rhythmic development. Listen all the time and use your imagination. Become a rhythm antenna."<ref name="RhythmSourceBookII">Lewis, ''Rhythm – What It Is and How to Improve Your Sense of It'', "How to Improve Your Sense of Rhythm", page 55.</ref>}}

Until the 19th century in Europe, people used to [[work song|sing as they worked]], in time to the rhythms of their daily tasks. In many parts of the world today, especially tribal areas, people still sing frequently and spontaneously as they engage in daily activities.<ref>{{cite news |quote=Benny Wenda, a Lani man from the highlands, is a Papuan leader now in exile in the UK, and a singer. There are songs for everything, he says: songs for climbing a mountain, songs for the fireside, songs for gardening. 'Since people are interconnected with the land, women will sing to the seed of the sweet potato as they plant it, so the earth will be happy.' Meanwhile, men will sing to the soil until it softens enough to dig. |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global/2011/mar/15/west-papua-singing-freedom-indonesia|title=Songs and freedom in West Papua|first=Jay|last=Griffiths|date=2011-03-15|work=The Guardian|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010010616/https://www.theguardian.com/global/2011/mar/15/west-papua-singing-freedom-indonesia|archive-date=2017-10-10}}</ref> Even without singing, instrumentalists can strengthen their innate sense of pulse using quieter bodily rhythms, such as breathing, walking, foot tapping, or other activities. (Likewise, listeners often adjust these movements subconsciously when hearing rhythmic music.) Musicians can deal with timing and tempo glitches by learning to "hear an ideal performance in their mind" first, and by listening carefully to recordings of themselves and others.<ref name=Beyond/><ref name="RhythmSourceBookII"/>

''[[Notes inégales]]'' (unequal notes) are a common feature of [[French Baroque music]], in which subdivided pairs of notes are written with equal duration but performed with a long/short [[Dotted note|dotted]] or [[Triplet (music)|triplet]] rhythm. Usually, these pairs are played with steady downbeats and the same amount of [[swing (jazz performance style)|swing]] throughout, like modern [[jazz]]. Less commonly, the unequal rhythms are more extensive and irregular, like the constantly shifting rhythms of speech. In this view, rhythms that are subtly unsynchronized and uneven throughout can help to keep the music alive and interesting, and prevent any feeling of sameness and boredom. Musicians may practise organizing notes and phrases into "[[musical gesture]]s", patterns of motions that come naturally, rather than metronomically strict measures. Performers also may slightly delay or extend an important note of a musical phrase, to build a sense of anticipation or emphasis. This freer approach is a minority interpretation of ''notes inégales'' for early music, but noteworthy because of its perspective on musical time and rhythm, and its relevance to musicians practising to create an emotionally engaging experience for listeners.<ref>Ploger, Marianne; Hill, Keith (2006). [https://keithhillharpsichords.com/musical-communication#orpheiorganiantiqui "The Craft of Musical Communication"], in Johnson, Cleveland (ed.) ''Orphei Organi Antiqui''.</ref>