Free online metronome for guitar: what it is and how to use it
Free online metronome, the musician’s best practice companion, ideal for you to practice with your guitar wherever you want: What is it? and How to use it?
Free online metronome
This free online metronome is your best companion when it comes to practicing your rhythm and tempo. Metronomes are the ideal tool for working on time and pulse, whether you play alone or with other musicians. This online application can be used anywhere and not only with the guitar, but also with any musical instrument: bass, ukulele, banjo, drums, piano, saxophone, violin, and others.
What is a metronome?
The metronome is a device that marks the time through a constant pulse. This is used to guide you in tempo or time with percussions, to develop that aspect of the musical technique. You can also use it to measure the time a song or piece of music is in. It is said that when the musical metronome had not yet been invented, musicians and composers were guided by the beat of the heart; therefore, the unit of measure for tempo is called the beat or BPM, but what are the BPM?
What is BPM?
BPM means beats per minute, it comes from the English Beats Per Minute . That means how many beats go in in a minute, if you put 60 BPM, you will have one beat or pulse per minute.
What is the tempo?
Tempo, which means Time in Italian, is named after the speed of the song or piece of music. Thus, it is usually said that the tempo of a song is 120 BPM or simply 120 to dry.
Another way to indicate the tempo of a song is through words in Italian, which group different BPMs, for example, Moderato ranges from 88 – 112 BPM or beats per minute. Before the musical metronome existed, the tempo was indicated like this. In this way, in an old score you can find the tempo indicated with words instead of BPM. See below the BPM tempo correspondence table.
How to use metronome?
The metronome lets you set the beat to guide you, from 1 BPM to 300 BPM (Beats Per Minute) or more. You can select the beats per measure, from 2 to 32 or more. You can also select between two different sounds if you want it to mark the beginning of the measure and other times. Thus, you can mark and change the beat and / or the accent or accents as you want according to the rhythm you want to achieve, this helps you easily follow the rhythm and adapt to any rhythm and musical style.
There are other free online music metronome options that also allow you to adjust the measures using different rhythmic figures; as well as quarter notes, eighth notes, sixteenth notes, triplets and more. However, with the selection of accents and beats or beats per measure you can do the same as you like with more flexibility.
Also, if you want to use it for study sessions or rehearsals, there are free online metronome options with stopwatch; thus, you can adapt the metronome to the song or your compositions.
Free online musical metronome options
The musical metronomes are compatible with all search engine or internet browser programs such as Chrome, Firefox, Explorer, and others, but in case it does not work for you, below, we leave you links to pages with other great free online metronomes quality, to accompany your lessons, practices and musical exercises.
Metromer and Metronome Plus are two of the best high quality free online metronome alternatives.
Tempo – BPM correspondence table
Italian | English | Number of BPMs or beats / beats per minute |
---|---|---|
Larghissimo | Very slow | 20 – 40 |
Largo | Very slow | 40 – 60 |
Lento | Slow | 52 – 68 |
Adagio | Ad agio, at ease | 60 – 80 |
Andante | Walking / Calm and lively | 76 – 100 |
Moderato | Moderate | 88 – 112 |
Allegretto | A little lively / A little bit joyful | 100 – 128 |
Allegro | Joyful; lively and fast | 112 – 160 |
Vivace | Vivacious | ~ 140 |
Presto | Prompt, Quick; Ready for action | 140 – 200 |
Prestissimo | Very prompt, Very quick | > 188 |
Related article: Free online tuner for various instruments -guitar, bass, banjo, ukulele, and more- and different tunings: standard, drop D, etc.-.
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