When my obsession is productive (to you too!)

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I was never a metronome kid.

I had one, but I didn’t even know where it was most of the time. It was dusty and sad. I knew I should use it, but until this day I can’t remember what my excuse was for neglecting it. Do I regret it? Probably. Do I try to use it more as an adult? I really do.

As an adult I also learned the beauty of EXCEL. This sleepy spreadsheet software can be so powerful and helpful. I took my knowledge of excel, and tried to use it to track my metronome goals. Yes, everything is a goal these days. The goal here was originally to make it more likely for me to turn my metronome on in the first place. But, what this experiment lead to was a new way of organizing my musical life, and I wanted to share it with you.

I created a spreadsheet with four tabs:

  1. Repertoire. This tab is where I track my repertoire for the year. Working on 45-60 minutes of music for a recital can be overwhelming. It helped me decide things like when I record certain pieces, and when I switch over to full run-throughs. I wanted to keep it all in one place and have a written out plan.

  2. Scales. Oh Carl Flesch, you created a wonderful scale book for violin, and I hope you would have loved this spreadsheet too. This tab has 7 columns (one for each day), with indications on what style to play the scales and at which metronome speed. I track my scale exercises progress on this tab, and can also note what I focus on every week.

  3. Technique. This is probably my favorite tab. It all started when my teacher saw how frustrated I was with spiccato. He suggested that I do an experiment: learn how spiccato works, but from the beginning; AKA speed 50. Every day I increased by 10 clicks on the metronome and tracked it with this sheet. Slowly I built it up to the right speed (in my case, it was for Mendelssohn Scherzo), and it helped me gain great control of my right hand. I finally felt like I knew what’s happening and how it should feel. This sheet can be edited to all sorts of techniques… anything you want to take apart and get nerdy with.

  4. Auditions timeline. This tab is pretty simple – it’s just a way for me to track progress in preparation for upcoming auditions. You can be as detailed as you want and plan every hour, or make more of a week to week timeline.

You can get this worksheet (even as a printable version) for FREE if you go here. Super easy. It will land in your inbox immediately! Happy practicing!