Online metronome
Pick a tempo, press Start and play – or tap the beat with Tap. The clicks are generated right in your browser, timed on your device’s audio clock.
How it is calculated
A metronome keeps a steady beat – for practising an instrument or singing, for dancing or for running cadence. This online metronome runs right in your browser with no app and no sign-up, on your phone as well as on your computer.
How it works
- Set the tempo with the slider, the −/+ buttons or the “Tempo (BPM)” field – anywhere from 20 to 300 beats per minute.
- Choose a time signature (e.g. 3/4 for a waltz, 6/8 for many ballads). The first beat sounds higher so you can hear where the bar starts.
- Tap the circles to accent, keep normal or mute single beats – for example only 2 and 4 for swing and pop.
- Optionally switch on a subdivision: eighths, triplets or sixteenths click more quietly between the beats.
- Don’t know the tempo of a song? Tap Tap (or press T) several times along with it – the metronome takes the average.
Your settings are part of the page address: bookmark a link to, say, 3/4 at 90 BPM or send it to your band.
Why this metronome is precise
Many web metronomes fire each click from a browser timer. Those timers jitter by several milliseconds and stall in background tabs – you hear it as “stumbling”. Here a short look-ahead schedules the clicks in advance on the audio clock, which is sample-accurate (the technique Chris Wilson describes in “A Tale of Two Clocks”). Click times are calculated from the start time and tempo instead of being added up, so nothing drifts, even after an hour.
Tempo, BPM and time signatures
- BPM means beats per minute. 60 BPM is one beat per second, 120 BPM is two.
- Tempo markings such as Adagio, Andante or Allegro are not fixed numbers; the display shows common guide values. In sheet music, what the composer or your teacher means takes priority.
- x/4 time: every click is a quarter note. x/8 time (6/8, 7/8, 9/8, 12/8): every click is an eighth note; secondary accents mark the groups, e.g. 3+3 in 6/8 or 2+2+3 in 7/8. To feel 6/8 “in two”, use 2/4 with triplets.
Honest limits
The click is precise – but you hear it with your device’s output delay. With Bluetooth headphones that is often 100 to 300 milliseconds. For practice this doesn’t matter because every click is delayed equally; to sync with other gear use wired headphones or the speaker. In a background tab or with the screen locked, phones may pause audio – keep the page in front while you practise.
Privacy
The clicks are synthesised in your browser; no sound files are loaded and no data is sent. Your browser remembers tempo, time signature, subdivision and volume locally for your next visit (“Reset inputs” clears them).
For practice, also try the guitar tuner for guitar and ukulele, or the timer and Pomodoro timer for fixed practice sessions.
Frequently asked questions
How do I set the metronome to 60 BPM?
Type 60 into the “Tempo (BPM)” field or drag the slider until it shows 60, then press Start. 60 BPM is exactly one click per second.
What does BPM mean on a metronome?
BPM stands for beats per minute. In 4/4 each beat is a quarter note; in x/8 time signatures this metronome counts eighth notes.
How do I find the tempo of a song?
Play the song and tap Tap at least four times along with the beat, or press the T key. The metronome averages the gaps between your last taps and sets the tempo; a single missed tap is ignored.
How do I set 6/8 time?
Choose 6/8 under “Time signature”. Every click is then an eighth note, the first one accented and the fourth slightly accented (grouping 3+3). For a slow feel “in two”, use 2/4 with triplet subdivision instead.
Can I hear only beats 2 and 4?
Yes. Tap circles 1 and 3 until they are dashed (muted). That way you practise the backbeat played by the snare drum in pop, rock and swing.
Does the metronome work on my phone?
Yes, in current browsers on Android and iPhone. On an iPhone the silent switch must be off, otherwise Web Audio stays silent. Keep the page open while practising, as some phones pause audio when the screen locks.
Why does the click lag with Bluetooth headphones?
Bluetooth transmits audio with a delay, often 100–300 ms. The beat stays even, though. If you need to play in sync with other devices, use wired headphones or the speaker.
What BPM is Allegro?
Common guide values: Adagio about 66–76 BPM, Andante 76–108, Moderato 108–120, Allegro 120–168, Presto 168–200. Figures differ between eras and sources.
Sources and legal basis
- Chris Wilson (web.dev) – A Tale of Two Clocks: Scheduling Web Audio with Precision
- MDN Web Docs – BaseAudioContext.currentTime
- MDN Web Docs – OscillatorNode (Web Audio API)
- W3C – Web Audio API
As of:
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