How to use this online metronome
Set a tempo, press play, and the big block lights up on every click. Everything you change (tempo, meter, accents, sound) takes effect immediately, even while it is running, so you can shape the click to the piece instead of stopping to reconfigure it.
- Tempo: drag the big number up or down, use the slider, nudge with −5/−1/+1/+5, halve or double it, or tap the number and type an exact value (decimals allowed, 1-999 BPM).
- Tap tempo: tap the Tap tempo chip in time with the music (or press T). After two taps the tempo updates live; a pause of two seconds starts a fresh take. For a full-screen pad with precision averaging and delay times, use the tap tempo & BPM counter.
- Time signature: choose a chip (4/4, 3/4, 6/8, 7/8 and more) or set any number of beats from 1 to 16.
- Subdivision: pick how many clicks you hear per beat, from the beat alone to thirty-second notes.
- Accents: tap any block in the grid to cycle it: accent, light accent, normal, silent. Darker blocks are beat starts, lighter ones the subdivisions.
- Sound: open the settings to choose a click for the beat, the accent and the subdivisions separately, balance their levels, and set a one- or two-bar count-in.
Keyboard shortcuts
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Space | Play / stop |
| T | Tap tempo |
| ↑ / ↓ | Tempo ±1 BPM (hold Shift for ±10) |
| ← / → | Tempo ±5 BPM |
Subdivisions: eighths, triplets, sixteenths and tuplets
A metronome that only clicks the beat tells you where the beat is; a metronome with subdivisions tells you where the notes between the beats belong. That is what makes it a practice tool rather than a timer. Set the subdivision to 2 and you hear eighth notes: every beat followed by its "and". Set it to 3 for triplets, 4 for sixteenths, 6 for sextuplets, and 5 or 7 for the quintuplets and septuplets that show up in contemporary and progressive music. When the parts disagree about the division itself, three against two or four against three, that is a polyrhythm, and the polyrhythm metronome plays both at once.
The beat click stays louder and brighter than the subdivision clicks, so the pulse never disappears in a wash of ticks. A good way to use this: start with the subdivision your passage is written in, play until it feels locked, then switch the subdivision off and see whether your internal grid holds without the help. Your accent pattern survives the switch, because accents live at musical positions, so the "and" of beat 2 stays accented whether you are hearing eighths or sixteenths.
Time signatures: 4/4, 3/4, 6/8, 7/8 and anything else
Meters written over 4 are simple: 3/4 has three quarter-note beats, 5/4 has five. Set the number of beats and, optionally, a subdivision. Meters written over 8 or 16 are treated as grouped, the way musicians actually feel them: 6/8 is two beats of three eighths (3+3), 7/8 is usually 2+2+3 or 3+2+2, 9/8 is 3+3+3 and 12/8 is four groups of three. In a grouped meter each group start gets the beat click, every eighth (or sixteenth) inside it can click more softly, and the tempo you set applies to the eighth note, the number shown as ♪ = BPM.
Because the grouping is explicit, odd meters stop being arithmetic. Put 7/8 on, choose 2+2+3, and you hear ONE-two ONE-two ONE-two-three: the shape of the bar, not seven undifferentiated clicks. For every meter with its counting, groupings and examples, see the time signature metronome.
Accents, soft beats and silence
Every block in the grid is one click, and every block has four states. Accent makes it louder and brighter (the downbeat starts this way). Soft is a lighter accent, useful for the "3" in a 3+2 grouping, or for a backbeat that should be felt more than heard. Silent removes the click while the playhead keeps moving, so the schedule and the counting continue but you have to supply that beat yourself.
- Accent beats 2 and 4 in 4/4 to practice locking to a backbeat.
- Silence beat 1 and keep the rest: if you can still land the downbeat, you are counting, not following. For whole bars of silence and automatic tempo ramps, use the practice trainer.
- In 6/8, accent block 1 and soften block 4 to hear the two-beat lilt instead of six equal eighths.
Swing metronome: from straight to shuffle
The swing slider appears whenever the subdivision is even. At 50% the pairs are straight. At 67% every first eighth is twice as long as the second, the classic triplet swing feel. At 75% the pair becomes a dotted-eighth and a sixteenth, a hard shuffle. Odd subdivisions (triplets, quintuplets) stay straight, which keeps swung eighths musically correct in any meter. To hear the same percentages on real hi-hats instead of a click, the drum metronome swings its sixteenths the same way.
Count-in and click sounds
Turn on a one- or two-bar count-in and the metronome plays plain beats (accent on the downbeat, no subdivisions) before your pattern begins, so you can lift your hands and start together. The six click sounds (Wood, Click, Beep, Ding, Square and Sine) are synthesized, not recorded, exactly as in the Beatmate app: two oscillators, a noise burst, an envelope and a pitch drop rendered fresh at your device's sample rate. Give the beat, the accent and the subdivisions different voices and levels if you want the hierarchy to be unmistakable in a loud room. If the room is too loud for any click, or you need silence, thevisual metronome shows the same beat as a full-screen flash.
Tempo markings and common BPMs
One beat lasts 60 ÷ BPM seconds: at 60 BPM a beat is exactly one second, at 120 BPM half a second. The Italian markings on a score describe ranges rather than exact values; these are the ranges most editions use, and every value in the last column opens this metronome at that tempo, so a 60 BPM, 100 BPM or 120 BPM metronome is one tap away.
| Marking | BPM | Feel | Open the metronome at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grave | 25-45 | Very slow, solemn | |
| Largo | 40-60 | Broad | |
| Larghetto | 60-66 | Rather broad | |
| Adagio | 66-76 | Slow and stately | |
| Andante | 76-108 | Walking pace | |
| Moderato | 108-120 | Moderate | |
| Allegro | 120-156 | Fast, bright | |
| Vivace | 156-176 | Lively | |
| Presto | 168-200 | Very fast | |
| Prestissimo | 200+ | As fast as possible |
Popular styles cluster around familiar tempos: hip-hop and R&B often sit between 85 and 100 BPM, house around 120-130, techno 125-140, dubstep near 140, and drum & bass at 170-180. Runners use the same numbers: a cadence of 170-180 steps per minute pairs naturally with a metronome at that tempo. Type any of these into the display above, or open a preset that carries the meter too, such as 80 BPM in 6/8 or ♪ = 168 in 7/8 (2+2+3).
Why the timing is exact
Most web metronomes schedule clicks with a JavaScript timer, which drifts, stutters when the page is busy, and stops when the tab loses focus. This one runs its scheduler on the browser's dedicated audio thread and counts samples, not milliseconds: the next click is always placed at an exact frame position, the fractional remainder carries forward so nothing accumulates, and a tempo change is applied to the interval already in flight, so the very next click lands at the new tempo. It is the same design as the native engine inside the Beatmate Android app, ported line for line.
Frequently asked questions
Is this online metronome free?
Yes. Every feature on this page is free with no account, no sign-in and no upload. The clicks are synthesized in your browser. The Beatmate Android app is the same metronome for your pocket.
How accurate is the timing?
Every click is scheduled at an exact sample position on the browser’s audio thread, the same design as the Beatmate app’s native engine. Tempo is kept as a running frame position, so there is no drift over a long session, and a tempo change takes effect on the very next click instead of one beat late.
Why does the sound stop when I lock my phone or switch apps?
Mobile browsers suspend web audio when the screen locks or the tab goes to the background; no website can override that. If you practice with the screen off, use the Beatmate app: it keeps clicking in the background and can add a haptic pulse and camera flash on every beat.
The click sounds late with Bluetooth headphones. Is the metronome off?
No. Bluetooth adds 100-250 ms of output latency to everything, and it is constant, so the beat spacing stays exact. The moving block on screen is delayed to match what you hear. For the tightest feel, use wired headphones or the phone’s speaker.
What do the subdivision options mean?
Subdivision sets how many clicks you hear per beat: 1 is the beat only, 2 is eighth notes, 3 is triplets, 4 is sixteenths, 5, 6 and 7 are quintuplets, sextuplets and septuplets, and 8 is thirty-second notes. The beat click is louder and the in-between clicks softer so you always know where the beat is.
Can I set a time signature like 7/8 or 6/8?
Yes. Pick a time signature chip, or build a custom grouping. Meters written over 8 or 16 are grouped: 7/8 plays as 2+2+3 (or any grouping you choose), 6/8 as 3+3, and you decide whether every eighth clicks or only the group starts.
Can I save my settings?
Your tempo, meter, accents, swing and sound are remembered in this browser automatically. Use the share button to copy a link that opens the metronome with exactly your setup, handy for sending a practice tempo to a student or bandmate.
I searched for the Google metronome. How is this different?
Google’s search widget plays a plain click from 40 to 218 BPM. This metronome adds subdivisions, every time signature including odd and compound meters, an accent grid, swing, a count-in, six synthesized click sounds, tap tempo and shareable presets: the things you need once the basic click isn’t enough.