This is a simple online metronome that gives you a click to practice to at any given speed. It use buttons on the screen to change speeds, but if you want to make changes quickly, use your computer’s keyboard to do this. It also models an old-fashioned mechanical pyramid metronome, where the sliding weight and swinging arm show chosen tempo.
Start Clicking the big Start button plays the sounds. Alternatively, you can play or stop the sound by pressing the Space Bar on your keyboard. This provides a handy shortcut to play or pause the sound.
How to Use the Online Metronome
The tempo is clearly marked out in Beats Per Minute with its associated Italian musical term. The tempo can be adjusted by dragging the slider to wherever you want it to go, or using the +1 and -1 buttons to increase/decrease the tempo by a single or five beats respectively. Keyboard shortcuts include using the up/down arrows to adjust the tempo by one beat and the left/right arrows to skip forward or backward in five-beat increments.
The Tap Tempo feature make it easy to get the correct speed for any new piece you’re learning. Just keep tapping the Tap button in time with whatever you’re listening to, or just tap along with the beat in your head. The metronome will average out your last few taps and adjust its own tempo to suit your tapping. Alternatively, you could tap on your computer’s keyboard using the T key. This can be very helpful if you’ve heard something that sounds like it would be at the right speed but don’t know the exact number.
Choose from one of four available time signatures: two, three, four, or five beats per measure. This will adjust both pattern of accents and the appearance of dots on screen. To make things easier to hear, the first beat in each measure is set to have a higher pitched, louder click so that you know where you are in the bar. You can switch this off with the Accent button if you want the same click volume for every beat instead.
To help you internalize the rhythm, they has subdivisions that add clicks between the main beats. These can be added as soft clicks within each beat. So you could add sixteenth notes; triplets; or even eighth notes. These come into their own if the music has rests in it and you need to keep time, or want to work through fast passages.
The sound of the click can also be altered. There is a choice of warm woodblock sound, a crisp digital click, or just a simple beep. If working for long periods this is kinder on your ears with the woodblock sound.
If you want to push yourself then the Tempo Trainer is a powerful tool in your kit. Once activated, it starts at whatever speed you choose. After a certain number of bars, it accelerates at a set rate until it hits the chosen tempo. This means you can play freely without having to concentrate on manually changing the speed of the metronome. The trainer will stop itself once it has reached your desired tempo.
Volume control is located next to the transport buttons. This lets you dial in how loud you want the clicks to be with a sliding bar.
There’s also an option for full screen mode. The metronome expands to take up more space, making it simpler to see and eliminating distractions. If you’re not sure which key does what, there’s a handy help button that pops up a quick reference guide.
Here are a couple tips for getting the most out of this little tool. Go slower than you imagine possible. Learn your passage well at a moderate pace and then slowly ramp up the speed with the help of the trainer. When you go wrong, drop it back and do it again.
Practice tricky rhythmic passages using subdivisions. So, let’s say you’re having issues with sixteenth notes? Turn on the sixteenth note subdivision and see if you hear how you differ from the click. It will tell you whether you are rushing or dragging.
That’s where the visual pendulum comes in handy. It gives you a good point of reference for timing. As the arm swings to-and-fro, the interface mimics a real mechanical device where the weight slides up and down the arm with the change in tempo. That visual can help you learn how a different speed feels.
For example, practice using the metronome to ensure continuity from one part of a piece through another. Set a tempo at the start of the main theme, then come back to this part later to see if you have kept that speed. Practice with the accent turned on to learn the bar structure of the music. Switch the accent off and test if you can still feel the first beat without the extra cue.
The good news is that the trainer allows for adjustments in its settings based off what you are practicing. If you’re looking to push yourself, up the step size. Want a little more time to get used to every new speed? Up the amount of bars per step. It’s all about expanding your comfort zone while maintaining accuracy.
So, get playing. Get yourself comfortable then follow the metronome. Try out all of the options available and see which ones suit you best. Take advantage of the keyboard shortcuts that allow you to change things rapidly while practicing. The more you do it the better your timing will be.