What is tempo in music? This is nothing but the speed at which you play a piece of music. In this blog post, you will gain a better understanding of the concept of tempo, and how to use a metronome to set the tempo while practising on the keyboard.

In Western classical sheet music, you’ll notice a number written on top along with the crochet symbol, like a 128 or 78. That is basically the tempo you’re supposed to play at. Coming to your keyboard, even in a basic digital keyboard, you should find a button somewhere on the top labelled metronome.

Metronome on the Keyboard

By pressing the metronome button, you’ll hear a 4-beat sort of sound, which is basically the metronome telling you what the tempo is currently at. Your digital display should give a reading of the value as well, such as 95. Try changing the setting of your metronome to say 120, you’ll notice the tempo has picked up and it is quite fast. The concept is simple – larger the number, faster the tempo, smaller the number, slower the tempo.

As a beginner, this can be a very useful aid, and it is highly recommended you make use of the metronome during all your practice sessions. Start off with a tempo that is somewhere between 60 and 80, depending on your comfort level. You can gradually increase it at a later stage, when you’ve got a little more control over your finger movements and familiarity with the keyboard in general.

Using the Metronome for Practice

How do you take the help of your metronome to improve speed and accuracy? If you’ve read the previous blog posts, you should already know how to play chords and scales on the keyboard. Let’s take the C Major scale for the purpose of this exercise.

Fire up your metronome, you’ll notice a sharp bell (or accent) on the first count of every 1-2-3-4 cycle. This is to help you easily identify the 1s. Before you start playing along with the metronome, count out loud to its beats, just to get a sense of the tempo.

Now play the C Major scale in sync with the metronome. This would go something like 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4-1-2-3-key off. It takes some getting used to, and in the beginning you might over pace or play at a slower tempo than you should. All you need is some focused practice to fix this, so there’s really nothing to worry.

You can also use the metronome to practise chords instead of individual notes of the scale. Take the C Major chord that you’ve learnt. Start the metronome and press down the chord for 4 beats, in sync with the metronome (1-2-3-4). Once you’re comfortable with this, incorporate the remaining 3 chords you’ve learnt in the C scale to play all four one after the other – C Major, F Major, G Major, and A Minor. The order is up to you, the only important thing is to pay attention, and play in sync with the tempo set by your metronome.

Basically, you can use the metronome for any and every kind of practice that you engage in as a beginner. We highly recommend that you do the same until you get a hang of the tempo. And playing at the right tempo is important for any musical instrument. Unless you do this, your listener will never be able to appreciate your music the way you want them to.

When you’re not in tempo, the music sounds sloppy overall and your listener would begin to feel disconnected. Going forward, switch on the metronome whenever you’re practising a piece. Doesn’t matter how fast or how slow you set it, as long as you follow it without missing a beat. In the next post, we explore a new concept of block and broken chords. Keep reading and practising what you learn.