A metronome is a simple tool that clicks a steady beat at a speed you choose, measured in beats per minute. Used well, it is one of the most helpful practice tools there is. This guide explains why teachers recommend it and how to use it at home without tears.

Why a steady beat matters

Music depends on a steady pulse. A metronome gives your child an outside beat to check against, so they can hear when they are rushing the easy bars or slowing down in the hard ones. The aim is not to need it forever. Pianist and teacher Melanie Spanswick suggests that if you keep the tick in your ear during practice, "the need for the metronome will become increasingly less".

There is research behind careful control of speed too. In a study led by Robert Duke at the University of Texas at Austin, the pianists who played best the next day had varied the tempo of their practice systematically. Music Mark's summary of the study notes that the top pianists often slowed down just before the spot where they had made a mistake. The pianists were university students, not children, but the lesson is a useful one: speed is something to control, not something to chase.

Start slowly

Kyle Peters, a percussion teacher writing for the Eastman Community Music School, puts it plainly: "Always start slow. Just because a piece is marked at 120 does not mean you start there." He suggests beginning around 60 beats per minute and working up, with "accuracy over speed" as the rule. Dr Brad Meyer, writing for Yamaha's educator hub, recommends learning a tricky passage at "usually half tempo or slower" so that the notes, rhythm and dynamics are clear first.

Climb a tempo ladder

Once a passage is secure at a slow speed, raise the speed in small steps. Meyer describes moving the metronome up by 5 beats per minute once a passage is played well, and staying put or dropping a couple of beats per minute if it starts to fall apart. Peters gives the same advice: do not increase the speed until the current tempo is accurate.

Here is an example of what that might look like for a short passage. The exact numbers will depend on the music and on your child's teacher.

• Play the passage slowly, perhaps at 60, until it is right three times in a row.
• Move the metronome up by about 5 and play it again.
• If it goes wrong, go back a step rather than pushing on.
• Stop for the day while it still sounds good, and start a little below yesterday's best speed next time.

Use subdivisions

A very slow click can be hard to follow because the gaps feel long. One answer is to set the metronome to a smaller note value. Peters gives the example of a piece marked at 50 crotchet beats per minute: set the metronome to 100 so each click is a quaver, then later practise with the slower click. Spanswick describes a similar approach for fast passages, starting with a slow semiquaver tick and then moving to a quaver and a crotchet pulse. Later on, Peters suggests putting the click only on the first beat of each bar, so your child holds the beat in between.

When to switch it off

A metronome is a tool, not a judge. Spanswick suggests learning the notes in strict time first and adding rubato, the flexible give and take of time in expressive music, once the patterns are secure. So for a gentle, expressive piece, there comes a point where your child should practise without the click and listen to the shape of the music instead.

It also helps to know when your child has had enough. Peters suggests working on a new skill for just five minutes at a time, and taking a break if frustration sets in. Spanswick suggests that anyone new to the metronome starts by clapping along to the tick before playing with it, and this works well for younger children too. If you would like a simple metronome to use at home, Music-Ready's free tools at free practice tools include one.

Above all, follow your child's teacher. They will know which pieces need the metronome this week, and which need it switched off.