I find metronomes much harder actually (even for me!) – they’re very robotic and distracting – clapping is the same as it’s easy to be clumsy/clunky. It’s more about feeling the pulse within the student’s body – get her to lightly bounce or tap her thigh, or you can tap the pace on her arm if she doesn’t mind. Sing the melody against the arm-tapping / bounce and then with the music so she can actually feel how the melody and then music fits with the pulse. Don’t add music until it makes sense as just a melody against a pulse, or just the pulse against the music. Then show her the accents of the first beats of the bar in the music, and where the melody fits around it. She doesn’t have to count beats of the bar, but you can, so she is aware of the beats where you have to wait before coming in, for example.
I hope that makes sense? I find this the hardest to teach. But it can improve! Good luck 🙂
