How to Use the Metronome Controls

1. Set a tempo.
   • Type a number into the box in the top right corner in place of the default value of 120.
   • Press Enter on your keyboard. (Values from 15-480 may be entered.)
   • Or, drag the knob on the green vertical bar.
   • Fine-tune your tempo choice with the up/down arrows to the right of the BPM number.
   • Use the up/down arrows on your computer keyboard.
   • Or set the tempo by ear: as you listen to a piece of music, click (or tap, on a touchscreen) in the "Click a tempo" box in time with the beat, and the tempo will appear in the BPM box.
2. Set the number of beats per measure. Drag the knob on the horizontal yellow bar.
3. Select the sound YOU want for each beat.
   • Click on a beat number (in the large black fields) and a menu will pop up.
   • Select a sound (over 40 choices!) from the dropdown menu and click SAVE.
   • You can select a different sound for any or every beat for improved rhythmic clarity.
   • For example, if you have four beats in a measure, you could set a snare drum to play on beat #1 and a conga on beat #3, or choose a different instrument for each beat!
4. Choose beat or beats to accent (for use with the default metronome tick sound).
   • Click the "Clear all accents" button or uncheck the boxes individually if you want all the ticks to sound the same (with no accents).
   • Click any box or boxes to accent those beats.
   • Or, uncheck the boxes (or click the "Clear all accents" button) and set the "Beats per measure" to 1 (that will also stop the flashing numbers).
   • To choose a higher-pitched click, set the "Beats per measure" to 1 and click the box under beat #1.
5. Start the metronome.
   • Press the big button labeled START. Press the same button to stop.
   • Once you have started the metronome, you can also press the spacebar on your keyboard to stop/start.
6. Metronome Tick Volume Control. Drag the knob clockwise or counterclockwise. As a tribute to Spinal Tap, our volume knob now goes to 11! This fantastic knob is by Yoav Kadosh — coding geeks, be sure to check out his outstanding work.
7. Subdivide Beat. This feature divides each main beat into smaller, evenly-spaced ticks — eighth notes, triplets, sixteenth notes, and a whole library of dotted and syncopated rhythm patterns. Hearing the beat subdivided helps you place notes precisely between the main beats, lock in tricky rhythms, and develop a rock-solid internal pulse.
   
   How to Use Subdivide Beat:
   • Click the "SUBDIVIDE BEAT" selector to open the menu. Each choice is shown in standard music notation, so you can spot the rhythm you want at a glance.
   • Choose a subdivision — for example, "8th notes," "Triplets," or "16th notes" — or one of the rhythm patterns farther down the list, such as a dotted eighth-and-sixteenth, the "Scotch snap," or offbeat sixteenths.
   • Press "START." The main beat ticks as usual, with the subdivision ticks sounding lightly in between.
   • To turn the feature off, choose "Off (no subdivision)" at the top of the menu.
   • Note: Subdivide Beat is silenced automatically while Polyrhythm Mode is on — the two cannot run at the same time.
8. Talking Voice Count Mode. A recorded voice counts the beats out loud, right along with the metronome. This is wonderful for beginners learning to count time, and for players of any level who want to internalize subdivisions — you hear exactly how the counting lines up with the pulse.
   
   How to Use Talking Voice Count Mode:
   • In the "TALKING VOICE COUNT MODE" section, click the "TURN ON/OFF" button.
   • Use the "COUNT:" menu to choose what the voice counts:
     • "Quarter notes" — counts the beats: "1, 2, 3, 4."
     • "Eighth notes" — counts "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and."
     • "Sixteenth notes" — counts "1 e and a, 2 e and a…"
     • "Triplets" — counts "1-trip-let, 2-trip-let…"
   • The voice counts up to whatever you set for "beats per measure," then starts over at 1.
   • Press "START."
   • At very fast tempos the voice cannot say that many syllables per second, so it automatically counts a simpler subdivision, and a brief on-screen note tells you when this happens. For example, when sixteenth-note counting gets too fast, the voice switches to counting eighth notes instead.
9. "Play—Go Silent" Mode (and random beat silencing). Set the metronome to tick for X measures and then go silent for Y measures. This feature will develop your inner pulse, so you can improve your ability to "hold a tempo"—to maintain the same speed over the course of several measures or an entire piece.
   
   How to Use the "Play—Go Silent" mode:
   • Click the "TURN ON/OFF" button.
   • Enter numbers in the “PLAY for X beats” and “GO SILENT for Y beats” fields.
   • Click the “START” button.
   • Play along with the metronome for your selected “PLAY for X beats.”
   • The metronome will go silent for the number of beats you selected in “Go silent for Y beats.” Continue to play at an unwavering, steady tempo.
   • When the metronome begins ticking again, if you held the tempo successfully, your playing and the first re-entry tick of the metronome will be perfectly in sync. If your playing and the metronome tick are not together, you failed to hold the tempo.
   • Click "RANDOM MODE" (random beat silencing) to have the metronome play and go silent at random intervals.
10. Polyrhythm Mode. A polyrhythm is two rhythms played at the same time — for example, "3 against 2," where one voice plays 3 evenly-spaced notes while another plays 2 notes in the same span of time. Polyrhythms turn up in all styles of music, and they are famously hard to feel. This mode lets you hear both rhythms locked perfectly together at any tempo, so you can internalize the pattern and play it cleanly and confidently.
    
    The lower rhythm — the "basic" or "main" beat — plays on a low-pitched tone. The upper rhythm — the "cross rhythm" — plays on a higher-pitched tone. Sounded together, they create the polyrhythm.
    
    How to Use Polyrhythm Mode:
    • In the "POLYRHYTHM MODE" section, click the "TURN ON/OFF" button.
    • Click the "RATIO" button and choose the polyrhythm you want to practice — for example, 3:2, 4:3, or 5:4. A window of notation examples will open. The examples in each row all sound identical, so simply pick the one that looks the way your music is written. (The "beats per measure" setting adjusts automatically to match.)
    • A small notation panel then shows your chosen polyrhythm. You can drag it out of the way, or close it with the "×" and bring it back later with "Show notation panel."
    • Press "START." You will hear the basic beat (low tone) and the cross rhythm (higher tone) playing together.
    • Use the "PRIMARY BEAT VOLUME (BASIC OR MAIN BEAT)" and "SECONDARY BEAT VOLUME (CROSS RHYTHM)" sliders to balance the two voices. Tip: turn one all the way down to isolate and master the other rhythm by itself, then bring it back to put the two together.
    • Turn on "ACCENT DOWNBEAT OF CYCLE" to mark the first beat of each cycle, which helps you hear where the pattern starts over.
    • Note: "SUBDIVIDE BEAT" turns off automatically while Polyrhythm Mode is on — the two features cannot run at the same time.

How to Use “Enter Your Own Rhythm”

Type in a tricky passage from a piece you are working on — a syncopated phrase, a complex tuplet, an unusual time signature, anything not built into the standard metronome — and the metronome will play it back. A steady "primary" tick marks each beat, and a higher "secondary" tick fires on every note you enter, so you hear both the underlying pulse AND the rhythm you're trying to feel. Loop through one measure or a whole sequence of measures, save your favorites as named presets, and share them with students or fellow players by sending a link.

How to Use “Enter Your Own Rhythm”

• In the "ENTER YOUR OWN RHYTHM" section, turn on "PLAYBACK CONTROLS" to engage the mode.
• Set the time signature for the measure: type the number of beats in each measure (top number) and pick the beat unit (bottom number, e.g., 4 = quarter note, 8 = eighth note).
• Add notes by clicking values from the "Add a note" palette — whole, half, quarter, 8th, 16th, 32nd, 64th. Each click drops one note into the measure.
• Modify the last-entered note with "Make rest" (turn it into a rest), "Add dot", "Add double dot", or "Tie to next" (don't re-strike the next note; sustains across).
• Track your progress with the fill meter, which shows how much of the measure is filled and what's still needed. A measure must be exactly full before the metronome will start.
• Edit entered notes: click a note in the entered-notes display to delete it; click "undo" to remove the last note; click "clear measure" to wipe the entire measure.
• Add a measure(s) with the "+ Add a measure" button.
• Once you have added more than one measure, pay attention to the orange "Measure #" buttons to select which measure you're editing.
• The "Duplicate" button creates a copy of the active measure.
• The "Delete" button removes an active measure when there are two or more measures.
• For special figures, use the sub-builders:
  • Build a tuplet for triplets, quintuplets, septuplets, etc. Then add the tuplet to the measure you are editing.
  • Build a polyrhythm for even-ratio polyrhythms (e.g., 3:2, 5:4). Then add the polyrhythm to the measure you are editing.
  • Build a custom polyrhythm for two voices with any rhythm. Then add the custom polyrhythm to the measure you are editing. Note that the two voices must have the same number of beats.

Playback Controls

• Turn On/Off: To go back to the normal metronome after practicing a custom rhythm, turn PLAYBACK CONTROLS to Off.
• Volume balance: drag "Volume of the primary beats" to set how loud the steady pulse is, and "Volume of the rhythm you entered" to set the volume of the notes you entered. Tip: adjust each independently to find the best balance so that you can hear or follow the rhythm you entered.
• Accent the first beat of each measure (deepest tick tone): This is on by default. However, you may find it easier to hear some cross rhythms by turning this off.
• Count-in before starting: turn on to have the metronome speak/tick a few preparatory beats. Usually, it will speak the count-in, but at fast tempos it will tick. It defaults to the active measure's beats-per-measure, but you can override with your own number.
• Pause between repetitions: turn on to add a silent rest of N seconds between each loop, so you can think/recover between each repetition.
• Score popup: when you press START, a floating panel pops up showing your full sequence in standard music notation, highlighting each note as it plays. Drag it to a comfortable spot. If you close it with the "×", a "Show score popup" button appears so you can bring it back into view.

How to Save Presets

• Save your rhythm as a preset — click "+ Save the current rhythm in “Build a Rhythm Here” as a named preset." You'll be prompted for a name. Saved rhythms appear in your "MY RHYTHMS" list.
• Click a saved rhythm's name to load it instantly (this also turns PLAYBACK CONTROLS ON so you can press START immediately).
• Rename any saved rhythm with the "Rename" button on its row. Delete removes it (with a confirmation). Rhythms are stored in your browser, so they persist across visits on the same device.
• Share a rhythm with anyone — click "Share" on a saved rhythm's row to get a link. Send it via text, email, or chat. The recipient opens the link on any device (phone, laptop, tablet), gets a "Load shared rhythm?" prompt, and one tap brings up your rhythm in their editor. They can play it, edit it, or save it to their own list.

Important Information on Presets — Don't Lose Your Presets!

1. If your preset is only on desktop/laptop:
   • ✓ Survives: page refreshes, browser restarts, computer restarts, OS updates.
   • × Lost if: you clear browser data (Settings → Privacy → Clear browsing data → "Cookies and other site data" or "Site data"), switch browsers (Chrome → Firefox = different storage), uninstall the browser, use the page in incognito/private mode (private storage is wiped on session end), or your hard drive dies.
2. If your preset is only on phone:
   • Same rules — survives refreshes, app/browser restarts, phone restarts.
   • × Lost if: you clear browser data, switch browsers (Safari → Chrome), uninstall the browser, factory-reset the phone, delete the PWA from home screen and clear data, use private browsing.
3. If your preset is on phone AND desktop/laptop:
   • They're completely independent. Saving on one does NOT save on the other.
   • But losing on one device doesn't affect the other.
   • The easy bridge between them: a backup file. On the device that has your presets, use “Download a backup file”, move the file to the other device (email it to yourself or use a cloud drive), then “Restore” there — that copies everything across at once. (A per-preset Share link still works too for moving one at a time.)

Back up your presets: in the “SAVE MY METRONOME SETTINGS” section, use Download a backup file of everything I’ve saved to save all your rhythms and setups to a single file. Keep it somewhere safe (a cloud drive, or email it to yourself), and use Restore from a backup file to bring everything back — on this or any other device or browser. (You can still use a preset's Share link to send one preset to someone else.)

How to Save Your Metronome Settings: Make and Save Metronome Presets

Once the metronome is set up the way you like it — tempo, beats per measure, accent pattern, beat sounds, subdivisions, talking voice count, polyrhythm, Play–Go Silent, and more — you can capture the whole configuration as a named preset (a "setup") and return to it instantly. Save a preset for each exercise you practice, for a tricky passage in a piece, or for each student you teach, and share any preset with others by sending a link. This is separate from the rhythms you build in “Enter Your Own Rhythm” above: here you are saving the metronome's overall settings.

How to Make and Save a Preset

• Set up the metronome exactly how you want it — choose your tempo, beats per measure, accent pattern, beat sounds, subdivisions, talking voice count, polyrhythm, Play–Go Silent, and so on.
• Open the “SAVE MY METRONOME SETTINGS” section and select “+ Save current setup as a named preset…”.
• In the pop-up, check the boxes for the settings you want this preset to remember (you don't have to include all of them), type a name, and save. Your preset then appears in the list of saved setups in that section, and a blue “Active” badge marks whichever preset is currently loaded.

Loading and Managing Your Presets

• Select a saved preset's name to load it instantly — the metronome jumps to those exact settings.
• Use the buttons on each preset's row: “Rename” to change its name, “Edit” to change which settings the preset includes, and “Delete” to remove it (with a confirmation). Presets are stored in your browser, so they persist across visits on the same device.
• Share a preset with anyone — the “Share” button gives you a link. Send it via text, email, or chat. The recipient opens the link on any device, gets a prompt, and loads your settings into their metronome with a single tap or click.

Back to Normal: the Reset Buttons

• Reset to a plain metronome — returns everything to 120 BPM, 4/4, with all modes off.
• Turn off all modes — switches off subdivisions, voice count, polyrhythm, and the other modes, but keeps your current tempo and beats.

Don't lose your presets! Your saved setups live in this browser's storage on this device. They survive refreshes and restarts, but are lost if you clear browser data, switch or uninstall browsers, or use private/incognito mode — and phone and desktop storage are completely separate. Back them up: in the “SAVE MY METRONOME SETTINGS” section, use Download a backup file to save all your rhythms and setups to one file, then Restore from a backup file to bring them back on any device or browser. (The same storage rules detailed under “Enter Your Own Rhythm” above apply here.)

How to Use the Practice Tools

The Practice Tools go beyond simply keeping time — they structure how you practice. Three of them work a single passage or exercise (the Hands-Free Practice Ladder ramps its tempo; the Seven Levels of Misery drills it; Trouble Spot Rehab brings it back at spaced intervals), and two rotate you among several passages the way an effective daily practice routine and real stage performance demand (the two Interleaved tools). You'll find them in the PRACTICE TOOLS section below the metronome. Here's what each one does and how to use it.

Hands-Free Practice Ladder

An automatic tempo trainer. It raises (or lowers) the tempo for you in steps while you keep playing — the easy way to bring an exercise or a tricky passage up to speed without stopping to touch the metronome. It controls the main tempo (along with mandatory rest periods if you want them), but you can also incorporate subdivisions, talking voice count, polyrhythms, and your own rhythms along with it.

• Turn On/Off to enable the Ladder.
• Change by — how many BPM to add (or subtract) at each step.
• Every — how long to hold each step, set in minutes & seconds or in measures.
• Start tempo and Target tempo — where the ladder begins and ends. Set the target lower than the start to ramp downward.
• When target reached — stop the metronome, keep playing at the target tempo, or loop back and repeat.
• When you press stop — resume from where you stopped, or restart at the start tempo.
• Optional: Warning ticks (a four-beat voice countdown before each change) and Rest (pause a set number of seconds between steps, then count you back in).
• Set everything, then start the metronome. The Ladder does the rest, hands-free.

Tip: once you've dialed in a ladder for a particular exercise, use the “SAVE MY METRONOME SETTINGS” section (right under the metronome) to save it as a setup — the Ladder settings are included, so the whole routine is one click away every day.

The Seven Levels of Misery (Block Practice)

A practice game with a serious purpose: don't practice mistakes. Pick a short, troublesome passage and set a goal — say, seven perfect repetitions in a row. Each flawless repetition earns a golden note; one slip and (depending on the misery level you choose) you forfeit them all and start over at zero. It's a focused, motivating way to do block practice — drilling one spot until it's solid — and it trains you to play accurately and deliberately instead of mindlessly repeating errors. The game runs in its own full-screen window: after each attempt you tell it whether the repetition was perfect or had a mistake, and it tracks your streak, celebrates when you conquer all your levels, and offers a practice tip whenever you slip.

• Turn On/Off to enable the game.
• Set How many levels of misery can you tolerate? — the number of perfect repetitions in a row you're aiming for.
• Choose your misery level: Gentle (no resets — just tallies your good and bad attempts), Conventional misery (a mistake resets your streak to zero), or Maximum misery (a mistake resets you to zero and raises your goal by one).
• Leave Use the metronome on (recommended) and set a starting tempo — start slow; playing too fast is the chief cause of mistakes. With the metronome on, START THE GAME also starts the beat at that tempo.
• Optional: Rest a set number of seconds between attempts (the metronome rests, plays a four-tick count-in, then a “beep” to begin), Kick it up a notch to raise the tempo each time you reach your goal, and Game sounds (a ding for perfect reps, a “wah” for mistakes, a fanfare when you win).
• Click the pink START THE GAME button (not the green main Start button). The full-screen game opens.
• Play your passage, then click Perfect or Mistake. A perfect rep earns a golden note and advances your streak; a mistake (in Conventional or Maximum) sends you back to zero, the metronome stops, and a coaching tip pops up — read it, work out what went wrong, then click RESUME to try again.
• Reach your goal to conquer the levels and win. Use Kick it up a notch or Play again for another round, or close the window to exit (which also stops the metronome).

Trouble Spot Rehab (Spaced Interval Practice)

A spaced-interval trainer for one stubborn spot. Pick a single passage you just can't seem to nail, set a total practice time, and the timer brings it back at spaced intervals across your session for short bursts of focused repair work — with time in between to practice something else or rest. Each spaced return makes you rebuild the passage from a slightly cold start, which is exactly what turns the fix into reliable muscle memory. Dr. Molly Gebrian, a music practice expert with a background in neuroscience, calls this “interval-timer practice.”

• Name your passage.
• Optional: turn on a Metronome preset (and a BPM) so each repetition starts the beat for you — or leave it off and work the metronome by hand. Add a Count-in, an image or PDF, and Practice Notes if you like.
• Set your Total practice time, then choose how often the passage returns: Even spacing (repeat every set minutes & seconds) or Random spacing (repeat at random intervals between two limits). A live estimate shows roughly how many repetitions you'll get.
• Click the violet START THE REHAB button. The first repetition begins right away; a floating panel shows the passage so the metronome and your other tools stay live while you work.
• When you finish a repetition, click “I'm done practicing…”. The panel counts down the time to the next repetition and the time remaining in the session while you practice something else or rest, then brings the passage back.
• Save the passage and its timing as a routine to reuse later, and share it with students or fellow players.

Interleaved Routines for Daily Practice

A hands-free timer that rotates you through several passages so your daily practice keeps moving and you never get stuck in a rut on one spot. Spend a few minutes on each passage; when its time is up, the routine moves to the next, cycling until your total practice time runs out. Dr. Molly Gebrian calls this “time-constrained practice”: limited time on each section forces sharp focus, which makes your practice more effective.

• Add 3–15 passages (from one piece or several). Give each a name and how long to spend on it (5 minutes by default). Optionally attach a tempo preset and an image or PDF, and jot down Practice Notes.
• Passages with a tempo preset start the metronome for you; the rest leave the metronome under your manual control.
• Set your total practice time (90 minutes by default) and choose Serial (in order) or Random order.
• Save these passages as a routine to reuse the whole set later, and share it with students or fellow players.
• Click START DAILY ROUTINE. A floating player shows the current passage and counts down its time, hands-free.
• Pair it with the Hands-Free Practice Ladder, Play–Go Silent, or Hemiola and Polyrhythm Practice if you like.

Interleaved Practice for Performance

In a performance, each moment happens only once — there are no do-overs. This tool trains first-try reliability: instead of drilling one passage over and over, you give each passage a single attempt, then move on, then cycle back. Coming to a passage cold, forces your brain to rebuild the movement from scratch — just like in a live performance. Use it to test and strengthen passages you've already built with block practice (the Seven Levels of Misery).

• Add 3–15 musical excerpts (from one piece or several). Optionally attach a tempo and an image or PDF to each.
• The metronome shows one excerpt at a time. Play it once, then mark it Perfect ✓ or X, and it advances to the next.
• Goal — the number of perfect reps that retires an excerpt from the rotation (5 by default). By default a mistake sends that excerpt back to zero; uncheck the box to simply tally attempts instead.
• Choose Serial or Random order, and optionally Rest between rounds once only a few excerpts remain — so each one feels like a fresh attempt.
• Save your excerpts as a routine to reuse later, then click START INTERLEAVED PRACTICE.

How to Use the Tuner & Waveform Feature

The tuner sounds a steady reference pitch so you can tune by ear. It works for any instrument, and it includes one-click presets for the open strings of the guitar.

1. Reference pitch (A = ___). This sets the tuning standard — the frequency of the note A. It starts at the modern standard of A = 440 Hz, and most players can leave it there.
   • Click the field to type any value from 380 to 500 Hz. The field clears when you click it, so you can enter a fresh number right away.
   • Or click a Common preset: Baroque (415), Verdi (432), Standard (440), or European (442).
   • Every pitch the tuner plays is figured from this reference, so changing it retunes everything at once — the frequencies shown in the tuning-pitch list update to match.
2. Tuning pitch. Click the selector to choose the note you want to hear; each choice shows its frequency in Hz, and the selected note's frequency stays in view once chosen. As soon as you pick one, it begins to sound.
   • A — reference plays the A you set above.
   • Standard guitar tuning lists the six open guitar strings with their octaves: 1st — E4, 2nd — B3, 3rd — G3, 4th — D3, 5th — A2, and 6th — E2.
   • Alternate guitar tunings includes Drop D (6th string — D2), the lute/vihuela 3rd string (F#3), and a lowered 5th string (G2).
   • To change the pitch while it is sounding, simply pick another one — it retunes instantly.
3. Custom pitch. Enter any frequency from 20 to 5000 Hz to hear a pitch that isn't in the list. It overrides the tuning pitch above; select a string or preset to return.
4. Waveform. The four buttons change the tone color (timbre) of the pitch, not the pitch itself. Click a waveform to play the selected pitch in that tone; click the same button again to stop.
   • Sine is the purest, smoothest tone. Triangle, Square, and Sawtooth are progressively brighter and richer.
   • Low notes — below G3 (196.00 Hz) especially — can be hard to hear on small or built-in laptop speakers, most of all with the Sine wave, which has no upper harmonics to carry them. If a low string sounds faint, switch to Triangle, Square, or Sawtooth.