Why You Shouldn’t Use The Metronome

As percussion educators, we are very adamant about teaching our Students how to use the met.  For Marching Percussion, Drumline and Drum Corps, you pretty much can’t go without it. It’s probably pretty blasphemous to say that there are times when you shouldn’t use the met.

Right?

Shouldn’t you use the metronome every single time you practice and rehearse?

Of course there are very obvious instances when you shouldn’t use a met.

You wouldn’t use the met during a performance for example.  Not only would that be considered cheating in a competitive environment,  but it would be pretty annoying for the audience to hear a constant (not to mention consistent) high pitched pulse throughout your entire performance.

But should you use the met if you are learning a new rudiment or a new piece of music?

You certainly could use the metronome in that instance, but sometimes, it’s more efficient to take your time and not be bound by a pulse to work out what you have to work out through the learning process.

What about when you get off step or don’t know how your hands line up with your feet?

You can certainly argue that the metronome can help with this, but it can be more efficient to ensure that the hands and feet line up during the downbeats perfectly without worrying about executing perfect tempo.

What do you think? Besides performances, are there other instances where you shouldn’t use the metronome?