PARALLEL TRACKS

Build speed and accuracy while moving

from track to track. Write all your
metronome marks down along the way!

1 FIND YOUR BASELINE

What’s a comfortable tempo for the entire
piece (or passage)? It’s OK if there are a few
measures that sink below the baseline.

2 MARK BIG SECTIONS

Which sections (a few lines or more) can go
way faster than the baseline? Which are right
around the baseline?

3 WORK MIDDLE
DISTANCES
Within your slowest big sections, get
individual beats faster, then groups of
two beats, etc.

4 IDENTIFY SPRINTS
Mark beats or sections that you can play
super-fast, too fast to put a number on.

5 FIX BROKEN TRACKS

If one beat or measure is gumming up the
works, solve the problem (shift, crossing, etc)
before turning up the metronome.

6 JOIN THE TRACKS

Turn middle distances into sprints, and
connect sprints together. Now you’ve got
long straight track ahead!

www.natesviolin.com
RULES OF THE
METRONOME
Play with the
metronome as if it
were another player

It should never be “in the

background;” it's an equal
partner in your music-making

Before you turn the

metronome on, decide
when you will turn it off

It’s a tool, a means to an

end; use it to gather information,
then build your internal pulse

Favor the big beats

Set it to half notes or whole

notes; you’ll hone your sense
of pulse while staying free

Work the weak beats

Tricky but effective: place the

click midway through a beat, or
even a 16th-note before or after

"Work it up"
only as a last resort

Solve problems rather than

just inching up the tempo;
try Parallel Tracks instead

www.natesviolin.com