What a metronome is for and how to practice with it

BPM, pulse and bar

BPM means beats per minute. At 60 BPM there is one beat per second; at 120, two per second. To go from BPM to the time between beats, divide 60,000 ÷ BPM and you get milliseconds: at 100 BPM each beat lasts 600 ms, and at 80 BPM, 750 ms.

Beats are grouped into bars (also called measures). In a bar of 4 beats the first one is accented and the other three are softer: 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4. That accent lets you find your place within the bar instead of just following an even click.

Tempo names

Scores often indicate speed with Italian words. They are not exact values and every source gives somewhat different ranges, but they work as a rough reference:

In the Metronome on abcsyg.com, the Italian name for the chosen value is shown under the tempo slider, so you can compare your number with the marking in the score.

How to choose a tempo

If the score gives a marking, use it as the destination, not the starting point. If it doesn't, listen to a recording or think about the character of the piece. For practice, the right tempo is the slowest one at which you can play everything cleanly, with the sound and technique you want. If you miss a note, it is not a memory problem: most of the time the tempo is simply too high for that passage.

A method for getting faster

This scheme works for difficult passages on any instrument. Take a passage you want to play at 120 BPM:

1. Start at 60–70% of the target tempo. 60% of 120 is 72 and 70% is 84. Pick a point in that range, for example 76.
2. Play the passage several times in a row without mistakes. A practical rule: three clean repetitions in a row.
3. Raise it by 4 or 5 BPM: from 76 to 80, then 84, and so on. With steps of 4 BPM, getting from 72 to 120 takes 12 steps.
4. If you start missing at a tempo, go back to the previous one instead of forcing it. Often it is better to drop back 8 or 10 BPM and climb again.
5. The next day, start one step below where you finished. Your body consolidates what it has learned during rest.

Subdivisions, off-beats and silent bars

When the click is far from your notes, your inner pulse gets careless. Subdivisions fill the space: in the tool you can choose eighth notes (2 per beat), triplets (3 per beat) or sixteenth notes (4 per beat). At 100 BPM, with the beat at 600 ms, eighth notes fall every 300 ms, triplets every 200 ms and sixteenth notes every 150 ms.

A 6/8 bar that you feel in two big beats is set up with 2 beats per bar and triplets: that gives you six clicks per bar, with the accent on the first. In that case the BPM counts the two big beats, not the six eighth notes.

• Off-beat: set the click to half the tempo and make it land on beats 2 and 4 of a 4/4 bar. It is the classic exercise for swing and jazz, and for feeling the pulse without someone marking it for you.
• Silent bars: play a few bars with the click, turn the volume down to the minimum and check whether you are still in time when you turn it back up. The tool has no automatic silent-bar mode, but you can do it by hand with the «Volume» control.

Typical mistakes when practicing with a metronome

• Rushing: the most common, especially in easy passages and when a phrase goes up. Listen for whether your notes land on the click or slightly before it.
• Dragging: the opposite, frequent in hard passages. It is usually a sign that the tempo is too high.
• Depending on the click: if you can only play with a metronome, you haven't developed your own pulse. Alternate: some run-throughs with the click and others without.
• Starting too fast: raising the tempo before you master the passage only locks in the errors.
• Always using the same tempo: practicing at a single speed doesn't train control. Alternate slow tempos with ones close to the target.

How to find the tempo of a song

With «Tap tempo» you press the button to the rhythm of the music and the metronome works out the BPM from your taps. To get a stable result, follow a pulse you feel clearly, such as the one you tap with your foot, and make several taps: the more you make, the better the average. It is useful for choosing the tempo to practice a song at, or for rehearsing along with a recording. If the song speeds up or slows down, the result will only be an average.

Other uses: voice, dance and sport

Singers use it to work on the precise entrance of phrases and on the pulse during long notes. In dance it helps fix the rhythm of basic steps before adding music. In endurance sports some people use it to hold a cadence: many recreational runners fall roughly between 150 and 180 steps per minute, though it depends on the person and the pace. In that case each click is one step.

How to use the Metronome on abcsyg.com

1. Set the tempo with the slider, with the − and + buttons (each lowers or raises it by one BPM) or by pressing «Tap tempo» at the pace you want. The range is 20 to 300 BPM.
2. Choose how many «Beats per bar» the bar has (1 to 12) and, if you like, a «Subdivision».
3. Leave «Accent the first beat» on so the first click of each bar sounds louder.
4. Press «Start» (or the space bar). The dots show which beat you are on. Adjust the «Volume» and press «Stop» when you finish.

The limits: on a phone, the browser may pause the sound if you lock the screen or switch apps, and the metronome stops on its own to avoid drifting. With headphones the click doesn't mix with your instrument. Volume and settings are saved only in your browser.

Frequently asked questions