Music apps you'll actually use: Tempo

There are hundreds of apps for music and dozens of metronome apps. Most of them are pretty stock, especially the free ones. Most of the free ones offer an in app purchase to actually make them useful, thus not free.

http://frozenape.com/tempo-metronome.html

Until I find a decent free metronome here is my general argument against searching for a free option first:

1. Think about it for a moment, to make a product and want to update it and make it more useful, the creator, no matter what it the creation, will need some kind of financial benefit to have the means to improve it.

2. When compared against a stand alone metronome, the price per feature comparison is laughable. Even at $10, a good met app is 1/10 the price of a stand alone with similar features.

So why is this app the one I have suggested to my students and have used in lessons and my own practice since I bought my first gen iPad? It is the easiest to use, feature rich, customizable, programmable, and super inexpensive at $2.99 as of the publish date of this post. To match the features of this met you'll be looking at spending minimum of $59 on a stand alone, and not have one of my favorite features as a teacher and practicing musician: the timer and tempo increase feature.

A good metronome should have a few things: a broad tempo range, several meters to choose from, subdivisions, and the option of accenting the beat where you choose. Most free apps have all of these but some will charge you to unlock those features. Tempo has many features BEYOND those but the one I enjoy the most is the following.

I have always taught my students to play a set number of reps, and then increase the tempo, for a set amount of time each session. Before you had to set an egg timer, and then count the reps and change the tempo every 16 reps or so. This can be a totally distracting and frustrating experience for even a more experienced player. But with this app you can set a timer for 5 min, and set the metronome to increase by a bpm you choose after the number of measures you choose. This allows the student to stay with the fundamental technique, the pattern they are working on, and counting out loud. This also takes away the mental barrier of seeing the tempo rise every time you bump it up and feeling the pressure of the ever more difficult "new faster tempo." Many times I have had students blast their old tempo by not showing them the met as we work, and when they see the tempo we reached, they are astounded! This is worth the $2.99 all on its own!

So click the link above and buy the app, you will be glad you did!

BTW, I get nothing from frozen ape developers for the above review, I just love the product that much!

Keep Drumming, Keep Smiling!

Joe