Online Metronome (Free, Tap Tempo, No Download)
Free online metronome with adjustable tempo, time signatures, and tap tempo. Practice in time, in your browser, no install.
Set a tempo above, pick a time signature, and hit start. Tap along to find the BPM of a song you’re learning. The first beat of each bar gets an accent click so you feel the downbeat.
How to actually use a metronome
Most beginners turn the metronome on, play sloppy in time with it, and assume that counts as practice. It doesn’t. The point of the metronome isn’t to keep you company. It’s to expose the moments where you lose the beat. Watch for those moments and slow down until they disappear.
A useful drill: pick the slowest tempo you can play cleanly. Let’s say it’s 60 BPM. Loop your phrase ten times at 60. If all ten are clean, bump to 65. Loop ten times. If any are sloppy, drop back to 60. The point isn’t to grind through; it’s to find the actual edge of your control and creep it forward by 5 BPM at a time.
For chord changes, count the gap. Strum a G chord on beat 1, switch to D in time for beat 2. If you can’t make the change in one beat at 70, you can’t make it at 100. Slow it down.
Tempo cheat sheet
- 40 to 60 BPM: very slow practice tempos. Use these when you’re decoding a hard passage note by note.
- 60 to 80 BPM: comfortable beginner pace for chord changes and basic strumming.
- 80 to 110 BPM: most pop, rock, and folk live here.
- 110 to 140 BPM: faster pop, country, energetic singer-songwriter material.
- 140+ BPM: punk, metal, fast bluegrass.
If you’re working on a real song, find its actual BPM with the tap tempo button, then practice at half speed (drop the slider in half) until your hands keep up.
Where this fits in a routine
Metronome work earns its keep when you do it for short, focused chunks, not full sessions. Five to ten minutes per practice is plenty. Our self-teaching guide lays out a 20-minute beginner routine with metronome work in the middle, where it does the most good.
FAQ
- What's a good practice tempo for a beginner?
- Start where you can play cleanly. For chord changes, that's often 60 to 80 BPM. Speed comes from accuracy, not effort. If you can't hit a chord change at 60 BPM cleanly, 100 BPM only teaches your hands to play the wrong thing faster.
- What's tap tempo?
- Tap the tempo button along to a song to find its BPM. The tool averages the gaps between your taps and sets the slider. Useful when you're learning a song and want to slow it down for practice.
- Does the metronome accent the first beat?
- Yes. The first beat of each bar plays a slightly higher click so you can feel the downbeat. Change the time signature to set how many beats per bar before the accent loops.