Wcap,
For a year or so, I've been practicing scales, fifteen minutes a day, with a metronome. I think my command of rhythm and tempo are improving, but, strangely perhaps, also a sense of rubato, legato, sustain, and other tricks that seem the opposite of strict timing. In tai chi, teachers talk about not "breaking the silken thread," and a similar feeling is getting stronger in me. I believe my playing is becoming increasingly expressive and, well, smooth. Do you think the discipline metronomes instill goes beyond training everybody in the band to end at the same time?
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