Free online metronome for guitarists
A precise browser metronome built for practice: subdivisions, accent patterns, automatic tempo increases, gap-click training and saveable presets.
Stopped
Volume
Space: start/stop · ↑ ↓: ±1 BPM · Shift+↑ ↓: ±5 BPM · T: tap · M: mute
Accent pattern
Click a step to cycle it: silent → ghost → normal → accent.
Tempo trainer
Raises the tempo automatically after a set number of bars. Changes always happen on a bar line.
Gap-click training
Alternates audible and silent bars so you have to hold the tempo yourself.
Random dropouts
Randomly mutes clicks so you notice when your timing drifts.
Practice timer
Stops the metronome automatically when the time is up.
Presets
Quick start
Practise with the metronome, then put it to use
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Explore guitar lessonsWhat is a metronome?
A metronome produces an even pulse at a chosen tempo, measured in beats per minute. It gives you an external reference to play against, which is the fastest way to find out whether your timing is actually steady or only feels steady. This one runs entirely in your browser using the Web Audio API, so the clicks are scheduled against the audio clock rather than a page timer - the pulse stays accurate even during long sessions.
How to practise guitar with a metronome
Start slower than feels necessary. Pick a tempo at which every note is clean, then play a short phrase repeatedly and listen for whether your notes land on the click or slightly ahead of it. Rushing is far more common than dragging. Once the phrase is reliably clean for several repetitions, raise the tempo in small steps. Practising a passage badly at high speed only makes the mistakes automatic.
How does the tempo trainer work?
The tempo trainer plays a set number of bars at one tempo, then raises the BPM by a fixed step and continues. Tempo changes always land on a bar line, so nothing shifts mid-phrase. A typical setup is 70 BPM to 120 BPM in steps of 3 every four bars. When the target is reached you can stop, hold the tempo, restart the ladder, or walk it back down.
What is gap-click training?
In gap-click training the metronome plays for a few bars and then goes silent for a few bars while you keep playing. When the click returns you immediately hear whether you drifted. It is one of the most effective ways to build an internal pulse, because during the silence there is nothing to lean on. Start with four audible and one silent bar, then grow the silence.
Practising eighths, triplets and sixteenths
Set the subdivision so the metronome clicks the note value you are actually playing, then gradually reduce it. Once sixteenths feel even with a sixteenth click, switch to eighths, then to quarters. The fewer clicks you get, the more of the subdivision you have to generate yourself - and that is the skill you are training. The subdivision setting here is independent of the time signature.
How fast should you increase the tempo?
Increase only when a passage is clean several times in a row, not merely once. Steps of two to five BPM are usually enough; larger jumps tend to reintroduce tension. If accuracy drops at the new tempo, go back down a step rather than pushing through. Progress in this kind of practice comes from the number of clean repetitions, not from the highest number you reached.
Common mistakes in metronome practice
Practising only at high tempo, ignoring the click when it becomes inconvenient, and treating the metronome as a stopwatch instead of a reference are the usual traps. Another is always placing the click on every beat: putting it only on beats 2 and 4, or only on the first beat of a bar, is much harder and much more useful. Use the accent pattern editor to build those variations.
Frequently asked questions
- Is this metronome free?
- Yes. Every function works in the browser without an account, and your presets stay on your device.
- Does it work offline?
- All sounds are synthesised in the browser, so no audio files are downloaded. Once the page has loaded it keeps working without a connection.
- Why does my metronome app drift but this one does not?
- Simple implementations schedule each click with a page timer, which drifts under load. This metronome plans clicks in advance against the audio clock with absolute timestamps, so no error accumulates.
- Which time signatures are supported?
- 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, 6/8, 7/8, 9/8 and 12/8, plus custom signatures with 1-16 beats and 2, 4, 8 or 16 as the note value.
- Can I share my settings?
- Yes - the share button copies a link that carries the whole configuration, so you can send an exercise to a student or open it on another device.