Online Metronome
At 100 BPM in 4/4 the metronome clicks every 600 ms and completes a bar every 2.4 seconds. Set any tempo from 20 to 300 BPM, 1 to 16 beats per bar, a half, quarter or eighth-note beat unit, and up to four clicks per beat. The first beat of each bar is accented, the beat dots light in time, and every click is scheduled on the audio clock for steady timing.
How does the online metronome keep time?
It schedules each click on the Web Audio clock ahead of time instead of firing it from a page timer. Every 25 ms a scheduler queues any clicks due in the next 120 ms at exact sample times. Busy tabs, scrolling and screen redraws therefore do not delay the sound.
click interval (ms) = 60,000 ÷ BPM × (4 ÷ beat unit) ÷ clicks per beat
The click sound is synthesized in the browser, with a different pitch for each role:
- First beat of the bar: 1,760 Hz, the loudest click, when the accent is on.
- Other beats: 1,180 Hz.
- Subdivisions: 880 Hz, the quietest click.
How to set up the metronome
Choose the tempo
Type the BPM, drag the slider, use the −1, −0.1, +0.1 and +1 steppers, or press Tap tempo on the beat of a song.
Set the meter
Enter Beats per bar from 1 to 16 and choose the Beat unit: half note (2), quarter note (4) or eighth note (8).
Add subdivisions
Set Clicks per beat to Beat only, Eighths (2), Triplets (3) or Sixteenths (4).
Adjust the sound
Move the Volume slider and tick or untick Accent the first beat of each bar.
Press Start
The beat dots light up in time. Press Stop to end. On phones, keep the tab in the foreground.
Worked examples: tempo markings on the metronome
Italian tempo markings translate into BPM settings. The ranges are commonly cited modern metronome values; the click gap is computed for a quarter-note beat.
| Marking | Typical range | Sample setting | Click every |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adagio | 66–76 BPM | 72 BPM | 833.33 ms |
| Andante | 76–108 BPM | 92 BPM | 652.17 ms |
| Moderato | 108–120 BPM | 112 BPM | 535.71 ms |
| Allegro | 120–156 BPM | 132 BPM | 454.55 ms |
| Presto | 168–200 BPM | 184 BPM | 326.09 ms |
The full list of terms is on the tempo markings chart.
Practicing with the click
Start slow enough to play without mistakes, then raise the tempo in small steps. A common routine begins at about 60–70% of the target tempo and adds 2–4 BPM once a passage is clean three times in a row. The guide to practicing with a metronome lists seven exercises.
Subdivisions help with slow tempos, where the gap between beats is long: at 60 BPM a quarter-note click leaves 1,000 ms of silence, and sixteenth clicks fill it every 250 ms. For a song you want to play along with, measure its tempo first with the tap BPM finder.
Preset pages open the metronome in a specific meter with its own counting guide: common time, waltz time, compound 6/8 and five-beat 5/4.
Limits of a browser metronome
Sound needs JavaScript and a device that runs Web Audio. Phones pause audio in background tabs, and the metronome stops when a mobile tab is hidden. Bluetooth headphones add their own audio latency, which shifts every click equally but can make tapping feel late; wired output avoids it. The tempo cannot change gradually during playback. For a file that plays anywhere, or for a DAW session, download a WAV from the click track maker.
Questions
Is the online metronome accurate?
Yes, to the sample. Clicks are placed on the audio clock at 60,000 ÷ BPM intervals, so timing does not drift with page activity.
What does beat unit 8 do?
It clicks on every eighth note. BPM still counts quarter notes, so at 100 BPM with unit 8 the clicks come every 300 ms.
How do I turn off the accent?
Untick Accent the first beat of each bar. Every beat then plays the same click.