Online metronome with tap tempo

How to use the metronome

Set a tempo, pick a time signature and press Start. Everything else is optional.

• Tempo: the big number is beats per minute. The buttons move it by 1 or 5, the slider covers 20 to 300, and the arrow keys work too (hold Shift to jump by 5).
• Tap tempo: tap along with a recording and the metronome matches it. It averages your last few taps, so a slightly uneven tap still gives a good number.
• Time signature: sets how many beats are in a bar and where the accents fall.
• Clicks per beat: adds quieter clicks between beats for eighth notes, triplets or sixteenths.
• Accent the first beat: makes beat one higher and louder so you always know where the bar starts. Turn it off for a plain, even click.
• Sound and volume: choose a click, a woodblock or a beep.

The beat dots light up in turn, with a bigger dot for beat one. The pendulum swings to each beat like a wind-up metronome, and its weight slides lower as the tempo gets faster, just like the real thing. If you've asked your device for reduced motion, the pendulum stays still and the dots do the work.

Tempo markings and BPM

Composers often write tempo as an Italian word instead of a number. The words describe a feel, so the BPM ranges are approximate and vary between sources.

The tempo labels in this tool are approximate names, not universal BPM boundaries. Follow the marking and intended beat unit in your score. A compound meter can be felt in larger groups even when this tool clicks each written eighth note.

Time signatures and subdivisions

The top number of a time signature tells you how many beats are in each bar. In 4/4, the most common, you count 1-2-3-4. In 3/4, waltz time, 1-2-3. In compound meters like 6/8 and 12/8, this metronome clicks every eighth note and adds a lighter accent at the start of each group of three, so 6/8 feels like ONE-two-three-FOUR-five-six. Odd meters like 5/4 and 7/8 get secondary accents to show their usual groupings.

Subdivisions help with rhythm. If a piece has lots of eighth notes, set Clicks per beat to Eighths and you'll hear "1-and-2-and." Triplets help with swing and with pieces in 12/8.

Practicing with a metronome

A metronome is honest in a way your ears aren't. Most students rush the easy parts and slow down on the hard ones. Practicing with a click evens that out. A few habits that teachers commonly recommend:

1. Find the perfect tempo first. Play the passage at a speed where it's clean, even if that's very slow.
2. Speed up in small steps. Two to five BPM at a time. The speed trainer can do this for you every few bars.
3. Count out loud. Say the beats while the metronome plays before you add the instrument.
4. Turn it off sometimes. After practicing with the click, play without it and see if you keep the tempo.

The practice presets cover common starting points: 60 for slow practice, 72 for steady pieces, 92 for a walking feel, 108, 120 for a march and 144 for allegro.

For kids and beginners

Young musicians do best with short sessions and a clear goal: "Play this line at 70 with no stops, then try 74." The big pendulum and beat dots help children who are still learning to hear the beat, and tapping along to a favorite song is a fun way to learn what tempo means. For movement breaks in a classroom, set a tempo and have students march, clap or jump on each beat, then speed it up.

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Browser audio limits

Keep the page active and the device awake during practice. Browser audio can be muted, suspended or interrupted. The tool schedules clicks ahead but cannot guarantee uninterrupted sound while a device sleeps or changes apps. Start with a short sound check and use the visual beat markers alongside the audio.