Music / 01
Online Metronome
A metronome that keeps exact time from 20 to 300 BPM, with time signatures from 2/4 to 12/8, an accented first beat, eighth-note, triplet, and sixteenth-note clicks, and tap tempo.
Online Metronome: Each click is scheduled ahead on the browser's audio clock rather than fired by a timer, so it lands on the exact sample even when the computer is busy. The first beat of each bar is higher, subdivisions are softer, and in 6/8, 9/8, and 12/8 the clicks group in threes, the way those metres are felt. Runs 100% locally in your browser with zero server file uploads.
- Category
- Everyday tools
- Runs
- In your browser
- Cost
- Free · no sign-up
- Availability
- Ready to use
Runs entirely in your browser
Space starts and stops; T taps the tempo. Tap at least twice.
Practising with a metronome
Start a difficult passage slowly enough to play it cleanly every time, then raise the tempo a few BPM at a time once it is secure. Playing it fast and badly teaches the mistakes. Subdivisions help at slow tempos, where the gap between beats is long enough to drift: eighth-note clicks at 60 BPM hold you as firmly as quarter notes at 120.
To feel the bar yourself rather than lean on the click, turn the accent off, or set half the tempo and hear each click as beats 2 and 4, the backbeat.
Tempo markings in BPM
Italian tempo words describe a character more than a number, and metronome markings differ between editions, so treat any conversion as a starting point. One commonly quoted set of ranges puts adagio at 66 to 76 BPM, andante at 76 to 108, moderato at 108 to 120, allegro at 120 to 156, and presto at 168 to 200; other sources shift each by a few beats. Where a score prints a number, such as ♩ = 96, use that.
How to use it
- Set the tempo with the slider, the number, or by tapping along to the music.
- Choose the time signature and how many clicks each beat gets.
- Press Start, or the space bar, and play along.
Privacy & limitations
Everything runs in your browser. Your tempo and settings are kept in this browser only.
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Frequently asked questions
What does BPM mean here?
Beats per minute of the beat unit shown by the time signature: quarter notes in 2/4 to 5/4, and eighth notes in 6/8, 7/8, 9/8, and 12/8. At 120 BPM in 6/8, that is two clicks a second, with the stronger click every third one.
How does tap tempo work?
Tap the button, or press T, in time with the music at least twice. The page averages the gaps between your last few taps and sets that tempo; pausing for more than two seconds starts a new count.
Does it keep time in a background tab?
Yes. Clicks are scheduled on the audio clock, and when the tab is hidden the page schedules further ahead, because browsers wake background pages less often. The flashing beat only shows while the page is visible.
Why do the clicks change when I change the tempo?
The new tempo starts on the next click the old one would have played, and the bar starts again from beat one, so you never hear a half-length beat in between.
Free tool · runs in your browser · no account required