A metronome is the practice partner that never gets tired and never speeds up. This free online metronome runs completely in your browser using the Web Audio API — the same technology professional music apps use — so the beat stays sample-accurate instead of drifting the way cheap timer-based clicks do. Set any tempo from 30 to 240 BPM, pick your time signature, and the first beat of every bar gets a higher accented click so you always know where the downbeat is.
Tap the Tap tempo button in time with any song and the metronome works out its BPM for you. No installation, no sign-up, and nothing you play is recorded or sent anywhere.
How to use this metronome
- Set the tempo. Drag the slider, use the − and + buttons for single-BPM steps, or type the feel with Tap tempo: click it on every beat of a song and the speed appears automatically.
- Choose beats per bar. Match it to your time signature — 4/4 for most pop and rock, 3/4 for waltzes, 6/8 for ballads and folk. The dots under the tempo light up in turn and the accented first beat sounds higher.
- Press Start and play. The click is scheduled ahead of time by the audio engine, so it stays rock-steady even if your device hiccups. Press Stop whenever you are done.
What tempo should you practise at?
Classical musicians describe tempo with Italian markings. The display under the BPM number shows the marking for your current speed:
| Marking | BPM | Feel |
|---|---|---|
| Largo | 40–59 | Very slow and broad |
| Adagio | 66–75 | Slow, gentle |
| Andante | 76–97 | Walking pace |
| Moderato | 98–111 | Moderate |
| Allegro | 120–155 | Fast and bright |
| Presto | 177+ | Very fast |
For learning a new piece, the golden rule is to start far slower than the target — often half speed — and raise the metronome by 2–4 BPM only when you can play the passage cleanly three times in a row. Speed built on accuracy sticks; speed built on guessing falls apart on stage.
Find any song’s BPM with tap tempo
Press Tap tempo on each beat of a recording and, after four or five taps, the display settles on the song’s BPM. That is the fastest way to match a cover version to the original, to build a DJ set that mixes cleanly, or to check whether a drummer’s live tempo matches the record. Taps are averaged over your last six clicks, and the counter resets if you pause for more than two seconds, so a fresh round of tapping always starts clean.
Practice tips that actually work
Practise in short bursts. Ten focused minutes with a metronome beats an hour of wandering. Leave gaps: set a slow tempo and play only on beats 1 and 3 while counting the silent beats internally — it builds an inner clock that stays with you when the click stops. Record yourself against the click once a week; drifting early on the beat (rushing) and drifting late (dragging) are both easy to hear on a recording and hard to notice while playing. Finally, if a passage keeps breaking at bar lines, loop just two bars — the metronome does not mind repeating them two hundred times.
Working on difficult rhythms
When a passage has a tricky rhythm — triplets against straight notes, or a melody that lands between beats — slow the metronome down until the rhythm fits comfortably, then count it out loud once before playing it. A useful trick for syncopation is to set the beats-per-bar to match the small unit instead of the bar: for a 6/8 piece that keeps tripping you, six lighter clicks can be easier to lock onto than two heavy ones. As the passage stabilises, move back to fewer clicks per bar and let your own counting take over.
Private by design
Everything happens on your device. The audio is generated live by your browser, this page makes no recordings, and no usage data leaves your machine. It works on phones, tablets and computers, and because the whole tool is one small web page, it loads instantly even on a slow connection.
Related tools
Metrónomo en Línea — versión en español · Online Audio Trim & Clip Tool · Online Audio Visualizer.
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