Tempo Generator / Metronome

{{ isPlaying ? `Beat ${activeBeat + 1}` : `${displayBpm} BPM` }} {{ isPlaying ? `of ${stageBeatCount}` : 'Ready' }}

Web Audio is unavailable in this browser; the timing plan and exports still work.

Tempo:

{{ displayBpm }} BPM

Enter or slide from 20 to 320 BPM; three or more taps can replace the value.

BPM

Practice preset:

Choose a starting point or keep Custom while tuning fields directly.

Meter:

Use a common simple or compound practice meter.

Subdivision:

Quarter = 1, eighth = 2, triplet = 3, and sixteenth = 4 click points per beat.

Feel:

Swing timing becomes audible only with eighth-note subdivision.

Swing ratio:

{{ swing_percent }} / {{ 100 - swing_percent }}

Choose a long-short split from 50/50 to 75/25.

Accent pattern:

The accent changes click emphasis, not timing.

Click voice:

Playback is synthesized locally after Start; no audio is downloaded.

Click pitch:

{{ pitch_hz }} Hz

Choose 400–3,000 Hz.

Click volume:

{{ volume_percent }}%

Choose 0–100%; this changes playback only.

Ramp target:

{{ trainer_target }} BPM

Choose 20–320 BPM; the plan caps at 16 blocks.

Ramp step:

{{ trainer_step }} BPM

Choose a whole step from 1–24 BPM.

Bars per block:

{{ trainer_bars }} bars

Choose 1–16 bars per block.

Timing element	Duration	Use	Copy
{{ row.label }}	{{ row.duration }}	{{ row.use }}

Block	Bars	Tempo	Duration	Copy
{{ row.block }}	{{ row.bars }}	{{ row.tempo }}	{{ row.duration }}

Tempo describes the speed of a recurring musical pulse in beats per minute (BPM). At 120 BPM, one beat lasts half a second; at 60 BPM, it lasts one second. That relationship turns a musical tempo into exact beat, subdivision, and bar durations.

Meter and subdivision answer different questions. Meter groups beats into bars, while subdivision divides each beat into smaller click points. A 4/4 bar can therefore keep the same tempo while moving from quarter-note clicks to eighths, triplets, or sixteenths.

Compound meters need an explicit pulse convention. Musicians often feel 6/8 as two dotted-quarter beats, even though the notation contains six eighth notes. A timing plan that treats BPM as a quarter-note pulse will produce a different bar duration from one that treats BPM as a dotted-quarter pulse.

Tempo, meter, subdivision, swing, and accent distinctions
Term	What it changes	What it does not change
Tempo	Time between main beats	The meter or accent pattern
Meter	How beats are grouped into bars	The duration of one selected BPM pulse
Subdivision	Click points inside each beat	The beat or bar duration
Swing	The long-short spacing of paired eighth notes	The total duration of the pair
Accent	Which clicks receive emphasis	The click timing

Practice ramps divide a session into blocks at gradually changing tempos. A smaller step gives more transition points; more bars per block give the player longer to settle before moving. Reaching a target still depends on clean execution, relaxed motion, and a step size that fits the passage rather than on speed alone.

How to Use This Tool:

Choose the pulse convention first, then shape the click and practice ramp around it.

Set Tempo from 20 to 320 BPM, choose a preset, or tap at least three times to estimate the pulse.
Select the Meter, Subdivision, and Feel. Swing timing is audible only with eighth-note subdivision.
Choose the click accent, voice, pitch, and volume if needed. Start low when using headphones or amplified speakers.
Set the Ramp target, step, and bars per block. Check the ramp cue and ledger to confirm that the target is reached before starting the practice sequence.

Interpreting Results:

The beat ledger reports mathematical durations from the selected pulse. The audible click is a practice reference, not a calibrated timing instrument, and the displayed volume percentage is browser gain rather than a sound-pressure level.

Beat duration is the time between main BPM pulses. Subdivision and swing redistribute click points inside that duration.
Bar duration uses the meter numerator as the counted beats per bar. For 6/8, the current timing model counts six BPM intervals and does not reinterpret BPM as a dotted-quarter pulse.
A ramp that reaches the 16-block cap before its target is incomplete. Increase the step or move the target closer rather than assuming the final displayed block equals the requested tempo.

Technical Details:

All timing begins with a quarter-note BPM pulse. Let B be BPM, n the meter numerator used as beats per bar, s the subdivision count per beat, and p the long-note share of a swung eighth pair.

Formula Core:

The beat duration is converted to milliseconds, then multiplied or divided to obtain bars and equal subdivisions.

d_{beat} = \frac{60000}{B}, d_{bar} = d_{beat} \times n, d_{sub} = \frac{d_{beat}}{s}

Swing keeps one beat unchanged while assigning a larger share to the first eighth and the remainder to the second.

d_{long} = d_{beat} \times \frac{p}{100}, d_{short} = d_{beat} - d_{long}

For ramp block j, B_j is that block's tempo and r is bars per block. Summing the block durations gives the planned practice time.

t_{j} = \frac{60}{B_{j}} \times n \times r, T_{practice} = \sum_{j = 1}^{k} t_{j}

Rule Core:

Tempo feel, tap, and ramp rules
Mechanism	Exact rule	Boundary
Straight feel	Use 50% for the first eighth and 50% for the second.	Applies to equal subdivision timing.
Triplet swing	Use 200/3%, approximately 66.67%, for the long eighth and the remainder for the short eighth.	Audible swing scheduling applies only when subdivision equals two.
Custom swing	Accept a long-note share from 50% through 75%.	The short share is 100% minus the selected value.
Tap tempo	After at least three taps, average up to the latest seven intervals. When more than four intervals exist, discard the shortest and longest before averaging.	A gap longer than 2.2 seconds starts a new tap series; the result is rounded and limited to 20 through 320 BPM.
Ramp sequence	Move from the start toward the target by the absolute step, without passing the target.	Step is 1 through 24 BPM, bars per block is 1 through 16, and the sequence stops after at most 16 blocks.

Calculated durations retain full numeric precision. Display formatting may round milliseconds or total seconds, but later ramp calculations continue from unrounded values. Accent choice, click voice, pitch, and volume do not change any duration.

Accuracy, Hearing, and Privacy Notes:

Audio is synthesized locally after playback starts; no audio file is downloaded for the click. Browser scheduling, device load, wireless audio buffering, and operating-system latency can affect what reaches the speaker, so use dedicated musical hardware when timing accuracy is critical.

Volume percentage controls relative playback gain and cannot establish a safe listening level in decibels.
Lower the level before using headphones. Loud or prolonged sound exposure can damage hearing.
Tempo settings and practice-plan values are processed in the browser and are not uploaded by this tool.

Worked Examples:

Straight and triplet-swing eighths at 120 BPM

At 120 BPM, one beat is 500 ms. Straight eighths divide it into 250 ms and 250 ms. Triplet swing keeps the same 500 ms beat but places the pair at about 333.33 ms and 166.67 ms. The tempo is unchanged; only the internal placement differs.

References:

Compound Meter and Time Signatures, Open Music Theory.
The Difference Between Swing Time and Straight Time, Yamaha, November 21, 2022.
Noise-Induced Hearing Loss, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, April 16, 2025.