Vance, I can't agree with you, although I believe in the strict time. The notes in modern notation (and in the old tabulature) are in fractional divisions, the spirit of the music may not be quite so digital. But I agree with you for practicing a new piece, the tendency is to break the time to correct a mistake. Better to play through the mistake for the sense of the piece - and the metronome forces that. Play the passages with the metronome until you get them into your skull, learn the song and its nature. Then you can turn off the damned click machine and do a bit of retard or accelerando. It is the relative time of the passages that makes the music, not the strict time from front to back.
I don't mean to advocate "free form", I love the strict time of the Brandenburgs, and other such. But there is a minor degree of freedom within the context of the overall time that is a step above the metronome. Let it flow a bit within the measure, but let the next measure come on time (but if one wants to gradually slow or speed the measures, then make sure that the previous measure sets it up). Best, Jon (Background: a cappella singer both as to pitch and time - but now aged and less capable of that).
