If you are a student of music and your teacher tells you to use a metronome, it is for a number of very good reasons.

When I introduce the metronome to younger students, I tell them that it is a frenemy. It is an enemy in the sense that the constant clicks will drive you insane: but it is significantly more of a friend and here is why:

First and foremost, it improves your sense of timing. It will help you know what notes you are supposed to play and when. It helps you know the real difference in duration of notes. It helps you know where the first beat of each bar is.

The second reason is that it helps you develop accuracy. This benefit is very much linked to the first. You can perform shorter rhythms more accurately and you can know the difference between an on beat and an off beat.

The third reason is stability. It is very common for young students to speed up the tempo of a piece they are performing. A metronome encourages you to perform with a stable tempo when it is needed.

Reason number 4: it helps you develop your speed. This is a byproduct of accuracy but anytime you see a passage that is dauntingly fast at first glance, the key to unlocking the ability to play these parts is indeed, working with a metronome. A metronome allows you to build your muscle memory very effectively. (Hint – start very slow – say 50bpm and work your up incrementally by 2bpm)

The fifth reason is that it will help you play with other musicians as well as record your own music. The latter scenario will see you recording with a click track more often than not.

To be a masterful musician, we needs to be in control of the elements that make music.

The metronome is an invaluable tool in this journey to mastery and allows us unlock the potential of our musical performance.

* If you are new to using a metronome, give yourself a challenge for the next week – practice an exercise or difficult passage of music that you are currently working on, with the metronome for ten minutes a day and see if results improve.

* Metronomes have never been more accessible. You can access them on your computer or download a free app. I use Tempo by a company called Frozen Ape.