Digital Metronome
Keep perfect time with a high-precision audio engine. Adjust the slider or use the buttons to find your rhythm.
The Musician's Guide to Tempo
Standard Tempo Markings
Composers often use Italian terms to describe speed. Here are the most common ranges:
- Largo: 40–60 BPM (Very slow)
- Adagio: 66–76 BPM (Slow & stately)
- Andante: 76–108 BPM (Walking pace)
- Allegro: 120–168 BPM (Fast & bright)
- Presto: 168–200 BPM (Very fast)
Practice Tips
Start your practice at a slow tempo (around 60-70 BPM). Once you can play a passage perfectly 5 times in a row, increase the tempo by only 5 BPM. This "incremental speed" method builds permanent muscle memory and precision.
Precision Audio
This metronome uses the Web Audio API, which schedules sounds at the hardware level. Unlike standard JavaScript timers, this ensures your beat never "drifts" or lags, even if your computer is busy with other tasks.
Practising effectively with a metronome
A metronome gives you an external reference for time, which is the only reliable way to find out whether you are actually playing steadily. Most players are surprised by how much they rush difficult passages and drag easy ones the first time they check.
Tempo markings in beats per minute
Largo sits around 40 to 60 BPM, Adagio around 66 to 76, Andante is a walking pace at 76 to 108, Moderato runs 108 to 120, Allegro covers 120 to 168, and Presto is 168 and above. These are conventions rather than rules, and context matters more than the number.
Most popular music lives between 90 and 130 BPM. Setting the accent to match your time signature makes the downbeat audible, which matters far more than the raw pulse when you are learning where a phrase sits in the bar.
How to practise with it
Start slower than feels necessary. The purpose is accuracy, and playing a passage cleanly at 60 BPM teaches your hands the correct motion. Speed built on top of a clean slow rendition holds up; speed built on a sloppy one does not.
Raise the tempo in small increments, around five BPM at a time, and only once you can play the passage correctly three times running. If errors appear, drop back rather than pushing through, because repetition embeds mistakes just as efficiently as it embeds accuracy.
Once a piece is secure, try setting the metronome to click only on beats two and four, or only on the first beat of each bar. Removing the scaffolding exposes whether your internal pulse is genuinely steady or whether you have been leaning on the click.
Subdivide when it gets hard
Set the click to eighth notes for a passage that keeps slipping. More reference points make the error obvious.
Record yourself
Play along with the click and listen back. You will hear rushing you could not feel while playing.
Practise ahead of tempo
Rehearse a few BPM above the target so performance speed feels comfortable rather than maximal.
Frequently asked questions
What tempo should I start at?
Slow enough to play the passage with no mistakes at all. If you are making errors, you are still too fast.
How quickly should I increase the speed?
Around five BPM once you can play a passage correctly three consecutive times. Slow progression produces faster results overall.
Why do I still rush without the metronome?
Internal pulse develops separately from following an external one. Practising with the click on beats two and four helps bridge the two.
Is the timing accurate in a browser?
It uses the Web Audio API, which schedules sound on a dedicated audio clock rather than a page timer, so timing is stable enough for practice.