Editing Metronome (section)

==Usage==
===Tempo indication===
In written musical scores since the early 1800s, composers and conductors (or editors) often indicate their preferred tempos using BPM metronome speeds, with or without descriptive tempo markings, to help musicians prepare for a performance. Even works that do not require a strictly constant tempo, such as musical passages with [[rubato]], sometimes provide BPM markings to indicate the general tempo. Another mark that denotes tempo is M.M. (or MM), for Maelzel's Metronome. The notation M.M. is usually followed by a note value and a number that indicates the tempo, as in {{nowrap|M.M. {{music|quarter}} {{=}} 60}}.

[[Ludwig van Beethoven]], a personal acquaintance of Maelzel, became the first notable composer to indicate specific metronome markings in his music. This was done in December 1815, with the corrected copy of the score of the [[Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt (Beethoven)|Cantata op. 112]] containing Beethoven's first metronome mark.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Noorduin |first=Marten |date=July 2016 |title=Beethoven's Tempo Indications |url=https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/files/54586757/FULL_TEXT.PDF |degree=PhD |publisher=University of Manchester |page=65}}</ref>

===Pacing tool===
Musicians often practise with metronomes to develop and maintain a sense of timing and tempo. Metronomes are also used as a training tool to achieve a desired performance speed—not only by musicians, but also by dancers,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.itaponline.com/blog/how-and-when-to-use-a-metronome-in-tap-class |title=How and When to Use a Metronome in Tap Class |first=Hillary-Marie |last=Atkinson |work=iTapOnline |date=2021-03-04 |access-date=2024-02-03}}</ref> runners,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://run.outsideonline.com/training/getting-started/running-cadence/ |title=Everything You Need to Know About Running Cadence |first=Amber |last=Sayer |work=Outdoor Magazine |date=2024-01-17 |access-date=2024-03-02}}</ref> swimmers,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://outdoorswimmer.com/coach/how-tos/swim-to-the-beat/ |title=Swim to the Beat |author=Staff |work=Outdoor Swimmer |date=2019-01-14 |access-date=2024-02-03}}</ref> and others.

Specific uses include learning to maintain tempos and beats consistently. For example, a musician fighting a tendency to speed up might practise a phrase repeatedly while slightly slowing the BPM setting each time, to play more steadily. A musician or athlete seeking to improve technical proficiency might set the metronome to gradually higher speeds until the desired tempo is achieved. This also helps to expose unintentional slowdowns due to technical challenges or fatigue. Additionally, recording musicians use [[click track]]s from metronomes to help [[audio engineer]]s synchronize audio tracks.

In health care, metronomes can be used to maintain the desired pacing in various physiological tests and procedures.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Mondal|first1=Himel|last2=Mondal|first2=Shaikat|date=July 2018|title=Applicability of android application-based metronome in physiological tests|url=http://www.ijhas.in/article.asp?issn=2278-344X;year=2018;volume=7;issue=3;spage=159;epage=164;aulast=Mondal|journal=[[International Journal of Health & Allied Sciences]]|volume=7|issue=3|pages=159–164}}</ref> For example, [[CPR]] chest compressions are significantly more likely to follow the recommended 100–120 BPM when a hospital emergency room uses an audible metronome, or when rescuers in non-hospital settings can remember a suitably paced song as a "mental metronome".<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Kaci |last1=Rainey |first2=Susan |last2=Birkhoff |title=Turn the Beat On: An Evidenced-Based Practice Journey Implementing Metronome Use in Emergency Department Cardiac Arrest |journal=Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing |date=February 2021 |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=68–70 |doi=10.1111/wvn.12486 |pmid=33555080|s2cid=231874439 }}</ref>

====Metronome technique====
"Metronome technique" is extensive and has been the subject of several books for musicians.<ref>Franz, Frederick [first published 1947]; revised by Truelson, Jon (1997). [https://www.franzmfg.com/mt.htm ''Metronome Techniques'']</ref><ref>Lewis, Andrew C. [https://rhythmsource.com/books/ ''Rhythm – What It Is and How to Improve Your Sense of It''] {{ISBN|0975466704}}</ref><ref name=Beyond>Santiago, Malcolm "Mac" (2010). [https://inchronicity.com/ ''Beyond the Metronome''] {{ISBN|1450731945}}</ref> The "intuitive" approach is simply to practise a full musical work, in time with a metronome clicking the downbeats. With more-advanced metronome technique, musicians practise separate exercises to strengthen their sense of rhythm, tempo, and musical time, while also cultivating flexibility and expression.

The basic skill required is the ability to play "in the pocket"—that is, precisely on the click of the metronome, in a relaxed fashion. It helps musicians to develop a strong sense of time, at intervals corresponding to fractions of a second. One challenge with this approach, especially for pianists and percussionists, is the metronome click seeming to vanish (or at least be heard less distinctly) when one hits the click exactly. Musicians who attempt to play in the pocket with a metronome without established technique may find that it introduces tension and effort into their performance. To address these difficulties, musicians may first learn to play consistently behind or ahead of the click whenever they want to. As a result, they develop a clear sense of "where the click is" and can train to hit the click as well.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://douglasniedt.com/metronomeisyourfriend.html |last=Niedt |first=Douglas |title=The Metronome Is Your Friend |access-date=2020-07-04}}</ref><ref>Krimmel, Max. [http://www.maxkrimmel.com/ShonaMusic/Misc.Music/MetronomeCourse.html "Max's Metronome Course"]</ref>

[[File:Video-of-2o4-at-60-bpm-with-go-silent-briefly.theora.ogv|thumb|{{time signature|2|4}} at 60 BPM. This track plays 5 measures, then goes silent for 2, 3, 4, and 8 measures (alternating with 2 measures played), a typical exercise to help internalize a stronger sense of tempo.]]
Much of modern metronome technique aims to resolve timing problems without creating overdependence on the metronome. Typical exercises are to practise maintaining a tempo while the metronome is muted for progressively longer periods of time,<ref>Santiago, ''Beyond the Metronome'', "Chapter 3: The Diminishing Click".</ref> or to practise with displaced clicks (offset from the usual downbeats) or [[polyrhythm]]s against the metronome.<ref>Santiago, ''Beyond the Metronome'', "Lesson 7: Being Inchronous Around the Click".</ref>

To help build rhythmic flexibility and musical expression in performances, preparatory exercises with the metronome often incorporate a fluid sense of timing. For example, musicians may practise drifting gradually from one beat to the next, or alternately pulling behind and pushing ahead of the click.<ref>Lewis, Andrew C. [https://www.rhythmsource.com/books/ ''Rhythm in Performance''], "Fluidity and Flexibility"</ref> As author/drummer Mac Santiago wrote: "The ability to hear the pulse and yet accelerate or decelerate slightly is a great way to incorporate human feeling into a musical performance. ... This also works for the actions of ritardando and accelerando, as they are relative to a steady pulse and are best performed gradually rather than in sudden shifts."<ref>Santiago, ''Beyond the Metronome'', Chapter 8, page 39</ref>

===Percussion instrument===
Perhaps the most famous, and most direct, use of the metronome as an unconventional musical instrument is [[György Ligeti]]'s composition, ''[[Poème Symphonique for 100 metronomes]]'' (1962). Two years earlier, [[Toshi Ichiyanagi]] had written ''[[Music for Electric Metronomes]]'' (1960). [[Maurice Ravel]] used three metronomes at different speeds for the opening of his opera about a clockmaker, ''[[L'heure espagnole]]'' (1911).<ref>Roy, Sanjoy (2012-08-17). [https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/aug/17/ravels-parents-at-heart-of-his-operas "Getting to the heart of Ravel's opera double bill"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909185545/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/aug/17/ravels-parents-at-heart-of-his-operas |date=2017-09-09 }}, ''[[The Guardian]]''.</ref>

The clicking sounds of mechanical metronomes have sometimes been used to provide a soft [[rhythm]] track without using any of the usual [[percussion instrument]]s. [[Paul McCartney]] did this on "Distractions" (''[[Flowers in the Dirt]]'', 1989). Following the metronome, McCartney performed a rhythm track by hitting various parts of his body.<ref>''Flowers in the Dirt'' (1993) Reissue CD booklet; credited as "Metronome and body percussion".</ref> Also, in [[Ennio Morricone]]'s theme "Farewell to Cheyenne" (featured in the film ''[[Once Upon a Time in the West (soundtrack)|Once Upon a Time in the West]]'', 1968), the steady clip-clop beat is provided by the deliberately distorted and slowed-down sound of a mechanical metronome.<ref>''Once Upon a Time in the West'' (1995) Remastered and Expanded Edition. CD booklet liner notes.</ref>

Five metronomes begin [[Philip Miller (composer)|Philip Miller]]'s musical score to [[William Kentridge]]'s video installation "The Refusal of Time" (2012).<ref>Baker, Kenneth (2013-11-06). [http://www.sfgate.com/art/article/In-out-of-sync-with-William-Kentridge-s-Time-4961744.php "In, out of sync with William Kentridge's 'Time' "] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213164156/http://www.sfgate.com/art/article/In-out-of-sync-with-William-Kentridge-s-Time-4961744.php |date=2013-12-13 }}, ''SFGate.com''. Retrieved 2013-12-08.</ref>