Online metronome with BPM and subdivisions

Beginners should start at a tempo slow enough to play every note cleanly — often 60 BPM or even slower for difficult passages. There is no shame in a very slow tempo. The goal is to build correct muscle memory first. Speed comes naturally with repetition once the movement pattern is accurate.

The metronome supports 2/4 (march, polka), 3/4 (waltz, minuet), 4/4 (the most common time signature in popular and rock music), and 6/8 (compound time, common in ballads and blues). The first beat of each bar is accented so you can always feel the downbeat.

The most effective practice method is to isolate a short passage — four to eight bars — and loop it at a slow tempo until it feels effortless. Then raise the BPM by 5 and repeat. Never skip ahead by raising tempo too fast; rushing causes you to practice mistakes. Recording yourself alongside the metronome and listening back is one of the fastest ways to spot timing issues.

Yes. Tap the Tap Tempo button repeatedly in time with a song you are listening to, and the BPM field will update to match your taps. This is useful when you want to practice along with a specific track at its exact tempo. Tap at least four times for an accurate average.

Once the page has loaded in your browser, the metronome runs entirely in JavaScript using the Web Audio API and does not need a server connection to keep the beat. If you reload the page offline the audio engine may not initialize, so load the page while connected and keep the tab open.

In 4/4 time there are four beats per bar, with the strongest accent on beat 1 and a secondary accent on beat 3. In 3/4 time there are three beats per bar with one accent on beat 1 — this creates the characteristic 'one two three' lilt of a waltz. Changing the time signature on the metronome is a simple way to feel this difference immediately.

120 BPM means 120 beats per minute — two beats every second. This falls in the Allegro range (fast, lively). As a reference: 60 BPM is one beat per second (Adagio, slow); 80–100 BPM is Andante to Moderato (walking pace); 120–140 BPM is Allegro (fast); above 168 BPM is Presto (very fast). Most pop songs sit between 90 and 130 BPM. 120 BPM is a convenient practice tempo because its even subdivision makes it easy to count along.

Set the metronome to a tempo where you can play every note of the scale cleanly — even if that means starting at 40 or 50 BPM. Play one note per beat first, then try two notes per beat (eighth notes), then four per beat (sixteenth notes). Only raise the tempo by 5–10 BPM when you can play three consecutive repetitions cleanly at the current speed. This method builds real speed over weeks rather than days, and prevents cementing sloppy technique.

A subdivision is a smaller rhythmic unit within each beat. At 60 BPM, each beat lasts one second. Eighth-note subdivision means two notes fit in that second; sixteenth-note subdivision means four. Practicing with subdivision awareness — mentally hearing each subdivided pulse even when playing only on the main beats — is the foundation of solid time. If the metronome plays quarter-note clicks, count 'one-and, two-and, three-and, four-and' aloud to feel the eighth-note subdivision between each click.

Both have six eighth notes per bar, but they feel completely different. In 6/8 the beats naturally group into two groups of three (strong-weak-weak, strong-weak-weak), giving a rocking 'one-two-three, one-two-three' feel — common in jigs, marches, and ballads. In 3/4 the emphasis falls on three quarter-note beats with a different internal subdivision. At slow tempos the two can sound similar, but at speed 6/8 has a compound-duple feel while 3/4 feels like a waltz.

Start at the fastest tempo where you can still play cleanly and relaxed, then increase gradually.

Subdivisions help you hear the rhythm inside each beat, not only the main click.