Online metronome

A steady click for practice. Tap the tempo in, dial the BPM, and hear the downbeat accented so you always know where the one is.

range: 20-300 BPM
tap tempo: 2 taps or more
signatures: 2/4 3/4 4/4 6/8
audio: Web Audio

the metronomespace bar starts, stops and taps the tempo

BPM

The loop most people start with

Learn the changes at 60 BPM first, one bar each, with the click on every beat. C, G, Am and F is the most common four-chord loop in pop, and it exercises every kind of change: down a fourth, up a sixth, and the barre chord everyone avoids.

C: C E G

G: G B D

Am: A C E

F: F A C

How to use this metronome

Timing is the skill listeners notice first, before tone and before speed. The click turns "steady" from a feeling into a fact: either you are on it or you are not.

Set the tempo. Type a BPM, drag the slider, or tap the tempo you hear in your head. Slower is better: 60 to 80 BPM is where real practice happens.
Pick the time signature. 4/4 for almost everything, 3/4 for waltzes, 6/8 for ballads with a rolling feel. The first beat of every bar is accented higher so you can feel the one.
Play on the click, then between the clicks. Start exactly on each beat. When that is easy, halve the BPM and treat each click as beats two and four. That is the classic way to build an internal clock.
Log the number. Write down the tempo you can actually play cleanly today. Progress on a metronome is measured in single BPM, not in how fast it felt once.

What is an online metronome?

An online metronome is a steady audible pulse at a tempo you set, measured in beats per minute. This one runs entirely in your browser with the Web Audio API, so it starts instantly, downloads nothing, and keeps time with the audio clock rather than a video or an app. Type a BPM, drag the slider, or tap the tempo of the song in your head and the page measures the gaps between your taps to work out the number for you. Four time signatures cover almost everything you will practise, with the first beat of every bar accented higher so you can always feel where the one is. It also doubles as a tempo finder: when you know a track is 128 BPM, you can slow it to 70 percent and practise the changes at a speed your hands can actually manage. Set it slower than feels comfortable, play until the passage is clean three times in a row, then move the tempo up.

20-300BPM, wider than most metronomes

±0 msscheduling drift, Web Audio clock

Freeno login, nothing to download

Learn & referenceExamples, charts and deeper explanation

Tempo markings, and what they mean in BPM

Sheet music rarely prints a number. It prints an Italian word, and the word is a range rather than a single tempo. These are the traditional ranges, so you can translate a marking into something you can dial in.

slow

Largo: 40-60
Larghetto: 60-66
Adagio: 66-76
Andante: 76-108

moderate

Moderato: 108-120
Allegretto: 112-120
Allegro: 120-156

fast

Vivace: 156-176
Presto: 168-200
Prestissimo: 200+

Tempo markings chart: Largo through Prestissimo drawn as bars on one shared 40 to 208 BPM axis, showing how wide each traditional range is — The same ten terms drawn on one BPM axis. Andante spans more than thirty beats per minute; Larghetto spans six.

Time signatures, and when to use them

Signature	Count it	Where you meet it
4/4	1 2 3 4	Almost all pop, rock, blues and country. The default, and the accent lands on beat one of every bar.
3/4	1 2 3	Waltzes and most ballads in three, from Blue Danube to Christmas carols.
2/4	1 2	Marches, polkas and fast pop where the bar feels like a left-right pair.
6/8	1 2 3 4 5 6	Blues shuffles and rolling ballads. Feel it as two big beats, each split into three.

4/4: four even beats, accent on 1

3/4: waltz, strong then two weak beats

2/4: march, strong then weak

6/8: two groups of three, felt as two big beats

Metronome FAQ

How do I practise with a metronome?

Start slower than you think you need. A common rule is to set the tempo where you can play the passage perfectly three times in a row, then move up four BPM at a time. If you make a mistake, go back down. Speed is a by-product of accuracy, never the other way round.

What does tap tempo do?

Tap the button, or press the space bar, steadily at the speed you want. The metronome measures the average gap between your taps and sets the BPM for you, which is useful when you have a song in your head but no idea what tempo it is.

How do I find the BPM of a song?

Use this page as a tempo finder. Play the song, tap along with the beat for four to eight taps, and read the measured BPM. Then press Start and the click runs at exactly that tempo, so you can check it against the track before you start practising.

What time signature should I use?

Most pop, rock and blues is 4/4: four beats per bar with an accent on beat one. Waltzes are 3/4, marches and fast pop often feel like 2/4, and 6/8 gives the rolling feel of ballads and blues shuffles. When in doubt, use 4/4.

Is it better to practise with the click on every beat?

Not always. Once a passage is solid, try treating each click as beats two and four by halving the BPM. Feeling the gap between clicks builds a much stronger internal clock than hearing every beat spelled out.

By Chiye · Updated September 12, 2026