A metronome that keeps perfect time
This metronome runs in your browser, free and without an account. It opens at 120 BPM in 4/4, with the first beat accented, so you can press Start right away. The tempo goes from 20 to 300 beats per minute. Turn the wheel or use − and + to move one BPM at a time; hold + to go faster. Tap the number in the middle to pick one of the marks printed on a classic wind-up metronome, from 40 to 208.
Your settings are remembered on this device: the next time you open the page, your tempo, time signature and sound are back.
Why it stays on time, even in another tab
Many online metronomes use a simple timer that the browser slows down as soon as you switch tabs, so the click starts to wobble. Here, each click is a short sound generated by the Web Audio engine and scheduled in advance, on the audio clock of your device, to the exact sample. A background worker wakes the scheduler every 25 ms; when the tab is hidden, it schedules a second and a half ahead. The result: no drift, no lag, even if you read a score in another tab. The beat dots are drawn from the same audio clock, so what you see matches what you hear.
Tap tempo: find the BPM of a song
Press Tap tempo (or the T key) in time with the music. After two taps you get a first value; the metronome then averages your last eight taps, so the reading settles quickly. Wait more than two seconds and it starts a new count. If the metronome is running, it follows your new tempo straight away.
Tempo markings and BPM
Composers often write an Italian word rather than a number. The metronome shows the word that matches the current tempo. Charts differ by a few BPM (one music textbook puts Moderato at 86 to 97 BPM, while another reference stretches it from 93 to 120), so this table is a guide, not a rule.
| Marking | Meaning | Approximate BPM |
|---|---|---|
| Grave | very slow, solemn | under 40 |
| Largo | broad, slow | 40 to 65 |
| Adagio | slow, at ease | 66 to 75 |
| Andante | at a walking pace | 76 to 107 |
| Moderato | moderate | 108 to 119 |
| Allegro | fast, lively | 120 to 167 |
| Presto | very fast | 168 to 200 |
| Prestissimo | as fast as possible | over 200 |
The numbers on a mechanical metronome
Johann Maelzel patented the mechanical metronome in London in December 1815, building on a design by Dietrich Winkel, and Beethoven was the first well-known composer to write metronome marks. That is why a tempo is sometimes written “M.M. = 60”: Maelzel’s Metronome. Wind-up models show 40 to 208 in uneven steps: by 2 up to 60, by 3 up to 72, by 4 up to 120, by 6 up to 144, then by 8. So 70, 90, 110, 130, 150 and 180 are not on the dial. This digital metronome gives every value in between.
Time signatures and accents
Each click is one beat. In 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 the first beat of the bar is louder and its dot is bigger. 5/4 is felt as 3 + 2, with a lighter accent on beat 4. In 6/8 and 7/8 each click is an eighth note: 6/8 is felt as two groups of three (accents on 1 and 4) and 7/8 as 2 + 2 + 3. Turn Accent off for a flat click, Subdivide on for a soft extra click halfway through each beat, and Mute when you only want the lights.
How to practice with a metronome
- Start slow. Find the tempo where you can play the passage cleanly five times in a row, even if it is half the target.
- Climb in small steps. Add 2 to 4 BPM at a time. If mistakes come back, step down again rather than forcing it.
- Count out loud. Say “1 and 2 and”, or use Subdivide, so the space between clicks is filled.
- Put the click on 2 and 4. Jazz players set half the tempo and feel each click as the backbeat. It trains your inner pulse.
- Keep sessions short. Fifteen focused minutes beat an hour of autopilot. A Pomodoro timer helps you stop on time.
Walking, running and CPR
A steady click is useful away from music too. For walking, research on adults aged 21 to 40 (Tudor-Locke and colleagues, 2019) links about 100 steps per minute with moderate intensity and about 130 with vigorous intensity: try the 100 BPM or 130 BPM pages. Runners often hear about 180 steps per minute, a figure coach Jack Daniels noticed among Olympic runners in 1984; a 2011 study found that raising your own step rate by 5 to 10% already lowers the load on the knee. See 180 BPM.
For CPR, the American Heart Association asks for 100 to 120 chest compressions per minute in adults. The 110 BPM metronome sits in the middle of that range, which makes it a good click for training on a manikin. In a real emergency, call 911 first.
Popular tempos
Each of these pages opens the metronome at the right speed, with what the tempo is used for: 40, 50, 60, 66, 70, 72, 76, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120, 130, 140, 150, 160, 180 and 200 BPM. To measure how long you practiced, use the stopwatch; to test your timing in a different way, try the reaction time test.