Tap a beat to change it: accent, beat, soft or off.
BPM bars, BPM.
Starts from the tempo above. Set the target lower than the start and it slows down instead.
bars, bar(s).
The click drops out but the lights keep going. If you’re still with it when the click comes back, your inner pulse is holding steady.
Stops on the next downbeat once the time is up.
Display
The flash switches itself off above three flashes a second.
🔒 Runs entirely in your browser and keeps working offline once it has loaded. No account, no plug-ins, and nothing is recorded. Every click is made on the spot by your browser’s sound engine, not played from a file.
How to use it
Press Start (or the space bar). Change the tempo with the slider, the − and + buttons, or by typing a number. If you know how a piece should feel but not its number, press Tap tempo four or five times in time with the music in your head and the metronome takes the average.
Choose a time signature, or build your own with the − and + buttons (up to 16 beats in a bar). Beat 1 is accented, and in 6/8, 7/8, 9/8 and 12/8 the start of each group gets a lighter accent so you can feel the groups. Tap any beat to change it: accent (tall bar), beat, soft (short bar) or off (dashed). Turning beats 1 and 3 off in 4/4 gives you a click on 2 and 4, the backbeat jazz players like to practise against.
Subdivision adds quieter clicks between the beats: eighths, triplets, sixteenths, or swing (the long-short feel of jazz and blues). Set the subdivision volume to suit; at 0 the extra clicks stay silent.
Practising piano with a metronome
- Start slow enough to play it right. Find the tempo where you can play the passage cleanly three times in a row, and start a few clicks below it. Speed comes from repeating it right, not from repeating it fast.
- Creep up with the speed trainer. Set it to add 2 to 5 BPM every 4 or 8 bars, up to your goal tempo. When it starts to fall apart, stop, drop back 10 BPM and go again.
- Scales and arpeggios. Play one note per click, then two (eighths), then three (triplets) and four (sixteenths) without changing the tempo. It’s the classic way to build even fingers.
- Hands separately, then together. Learn each hand at a slow tempo with the click, then put them together at an even slower one.
- Check your inner pulse. Turn on Silent bars. Rushing through the gaps is the most common habit the metronome catches, and silent bars show you whether it’s gone.
- Don’t stay on it forever. Once a piece is steady, play it without the click too, so you can shape the phrasing. The metronome is for building control, not for every performance.
For guitar, the drums sound puts a kick on beat 1 and a hi-hat on the others, which is easier to lock into than a click. For singers and wind players, the beep cuts through best. With a loud acoustic piano or drum kit, turn on the flash so you can see beat 1 even when you can’t hear it.
Tempo markings and BPM
The Italian words at the top of a piece are a guide to feel, not an exact number, and editions disagree. These are the usual ranges:
| Marking | Roughly | Feel |
|---|---|---|
| Grave | 25–45 BPM | Very slow and solemn |
| Largo | 40–60 BPM | Slow and broad |
| Larghetto | 60–66 BPM | A little less slow than largo |
| Adagio | 66–76 BPM | Slow, at ease |
| Andante | 76–108 BPM | A walking pace |
| Moderato | 108–120 BPM | Moderate |
| Allegro | 120–156 BPM | Fast and bright |
| Vivace | 156–176 BPM | Lively |
| Presto | 168–200 BPM | Very fast |
| Prestissimo | Over 200 BPM | As fast as possible |
A marking like ♩ = 72 means 72 quarter-note beats a minute. If the score gives a dotted quarter (♩. = 60), as many pieces in 6/8 do, choose 2/4 with Triplets at 60 to feel it in two, or 6/8 at 180 to click every eighth note.
How accurate is it?
The click seems late, or out of step with the lights
Why is there no sound?
Will it keep going if my screen locks?
Can I send a student a tempo and time signature?
Does it work without the internet?
Is anything recorded or sent anywhere?
The piano books we use
We bought every one of these ourselves. Kenneth Baker wrote two versions of his course: The Complete Piano Player for a piano or digital piano, and The Complete Keyboard Player for a home keyboard with automatic accompaniment. Pick the one that matches what you play on. Outside Australia? Each book also has an eBay link to a new copy from a seller that posts internationally.
These are affiliate links. The Amazon.com.au links are marked “(paid link)”: as an Amazon Associate, Digital Greenhouse earns from qualifying purchases. The eBay links are marked “(paid link — eBay)”: through the eBay Partner Network, we may be paid if you buy through one. You pay the same price either way.
Learning on a piano or digital piano
The Complete Piano Player is a five-book course for beginners: it starts with your thumb on middle C and teaches reading music through popular songs.
Learning on a home keyboard
The Complete Keyboard Player is the same course written for keyboards with automatic accompaniment, like a 61-key Yamaha or Casio: your right hand plays the tune and your left hand sets off the chords and the backing.