How do these correspond to settings on a metronome - particularly the online one on here? (Hopefully that isn't a particularly daft question!)
Ali
3/4, 4/4, 6/8 time etc
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flutepicc06
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- Joined: Mon May 29, 2006 11:34 pm
Well, those are time signatures. They indicate how many of a given type of note each measure has within it. For example, in 6/8 time, there are 6 (the top number) eighth notes (the bottom number) per measure. In 3/4, there are 3 quarter notes. Time signatures do not indicate the speed of a piece, and thus do not correspond to metronome settings at all. Normally there will be an indication at the beginning of a piece (or wherever it changes tempos), usually displayed as a quarter note=X, 8th=X, etc. or with Allegretto, Largo, etc.
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flutepicc06
- Posts: 1353
- Joined: Mon May 29, 2006 11:34 pm
Well, oftentimes the style will dictate the tempo, even without markings. A relatively large portion of the flute repertoire is built upon different dances from different eras, so you need to go fast enough to maintain the proper feel (could I dance to it if I played it at this tempo?). In a piece that sounds like it should be relatively fast, the most difficult passage (which will vary from player to player) will dictate the upper limits of the tempo, but you can slow any tempo down a bit without losing much. All of this comes with time and practice...As you hear more of the repertoire, you'll be able to use your past listening experiences to help guide you as you're learning new music. That said, I would strongly encourage you to start listening to recordings regularly if you do not already. They don't all need to be flutists, as you can pick up musical ideas from any great musician, or even classical in nature (being familiar with a wide variety of music will help make you a more flexible player). And if worse comes to worse, you can always try asking for suggested tempi on forums like this one.Ali P wrote:Yes, it sort of clicked while I was thinking about it earlier on.
What do you do when pieces aren't marked with an indicated speed? I'm ok if I already know the piece I'm having a go at, but if I don't know it I find it hard to pick up on how it should probably sound.