Tip of the Day: Ictus - How it can help your timing while working with a metronome

An ictus is the emphasis of a beat. Having an emphasis on beat one is extremely helpful while working with a metronome. This ictus helps you to immediately know when you accidentally add or drop a beat while playing (with no ictus, the monotone clicking of the metronome gives you no indication of where you are in a bar/measure). On the app I use (called Tempo), it allows you to set the ictus. Luckily it defaults to beat one (shown as < inside the first circle in the provided pictures). If yours is not set this way, simply click on that circle to enable the ictus. Furthermore, you can go into the settings of this app and choose to have the phone vibrate on that ictus. If you set your phone in your shirt pocket or on top of your leg as you sit and practice, you have an added tactile reference of where beat one is.

To see screenshots of what I spoke of visit https://www.facebook.com/bluesharmonica/