An important aspect of learning the cello, or any instrument for that matter, is learning how to play with the metronome. I like to think about technique as a tool bag, I want to have as many different tools in my bag as possible. Being able to play with the metronome is one of these tools. If a composer asks us to play slowly, we want to feel confident playing slowly. If he asks us to play fast, we want to feel confident playing fast. That being said, the metronome can be a tricky device to get comfortable with because we have to internalize an external beat/pace. But just like any other technique and obstacle, with hard work and diligent practice we can gain competency with the metronome and continue to work towards mastering it. Below are some exercises that can help improve our metronome work.
Before beginning, it is important to understand that when using the metronome we want to play WITH the beat and not REACT to the beat. If we react to the beat, we will always be behind.
1) The first exercise will be without the cello. The metronome will be set to quarter note = 60. Step 1. Ta or clap quarter notes. Step 2. Ta or clap half notes. Step 3. Ta or clap dotted half notes. Step 4. Ta or clap whole notes. The reason we start without the cello is that we want to eliminate any elements that might get in the way of us successfully using the metronome. I like to think of it like juggling on an unicycle. If I am uncomfortable juggling, I'll first learn to juggle with out the unicycle. Once I feel confident juggling without the unicycle, then I can try to juggle with the unicycle.
2) Once we've practiced and warmed up with exercise 1, we can do the same pattern but now playing one note on the cello. For example, playing our G on the D string with a quarter note, half note, dotted half note, and whole note pattern.
3) When we've built confidence with exercise 2, we can start combining different note values (still play on one note). For instance, you can choose to play two quarter notes and then a half note, repeating the pattern for as long as you'd like. You can switch it up and choose different combinations.
4) Go back to an earlier piece you have learned, and use the metronome with that. It makes it much easier when we are technically familiar with the piece!
Once we have done these steps and built our confidence with the metronome, it will make it much easier to integrate the metronome into our current pieces! Remember, the more we use and work on the metronome the better and easier it will eventually be.
vm