The easy part is setting the number. The hard part is using it in a way that actually helps.
BPM stands for beats per minute. At 60 BPM there's one beat every second; at 120, two per second. That's all.
What the number doesn't tell you is which note value gets the beat. “120 BPM” in 4/4 usually means 120 quarter notes per minute, but in 6/8 the beat is usually the dotted quarter, and then 120 BPM is 360 eighth notes per minute. That's why sheet music says ♩ = 120 and not just “120”: the note value is part of the marking.
| Marking | Approximate BPM | How it feels |
|---|---|---|
| Largo | 40–60 | Very slow, solemn |
| Adagio | 66–76 | Slow, calm |
| Andante | 76–108 | At a walking pace |
| Moderato | 108–120 | Moderate |
| Allegro | 120–168 | Fast and bright. Most pop lives here |
| Vivace | 168–176 | Lively |
| Presto | 168–200 | Very fast |
| Prestissimo | 200+ | As fast as it can be played |
The rule is to play at the tempo where it comes out right the first time and every time, not the one where you almost get it. Repeating a passage badly at 100 BPM doesn't improve it: it locks in the mistake. Slow down until it's clean, even if that's 50.
Three clean repetitions in a row, and you go up 5 BPM. One mistake, and you go down 5. It's slow and it works; the whole system fits in those two sentences.
Turning on eighth or sixteenth notes holds you steady at first and shows you where the notes fall between beats. But leaning on them all the time is a crutch: as soon as the passage comes together, go back to the plain beat.
Once the passage feels comfortable, try it with the metronome sounding only on 2 and 4. It's the classic jazz exercise, and it's tough: you keep the time and the metronome only confirms it. The next step is one click per bar, and after that, one every two bars.
Play as if the click were the second eighth note of the beat, or the offbeat. It's uncomfortable on purpose: if you can play against the click without leaning on it, the tempo belongs to you and not to the device.
A metronome from 30 to 300 BPM with simple and compound meters, subdivisions, accents and eight different click sounds. Setlists with sections so rehearsal never stops, and on Apple Watch the beat is marked with vibration. Free, no account, works offline.
Get it on Google Play Download on the App StoreIt's the most common complaint about metronomes, and there's a physical explanation: if the click shares a frequency range with your instrument, your ear blends it with what you're playing and stops hearing it exactly when you need it most. A high beep disappears under cymbals; a woodblock gets lost among the low strings of a piano.
The solution is to have several click sounds and choose the one that does not resemble what's playing: wood or claves for string instruments, something higher and more metallic against a drum kit, a dry knock against a voice. And the ultimate solution in a loud rehearsal is not to rely on your ears at all: a vibrating pulse on your wrist can still be felt when the speaker can no longer be heard.
You often read that always practicing with a metronome kills your phrasing. What kills phrasing is practicing only with a metronome. The device is for two very specific things —finding out where you rush and locking in a difficult passage— and nothing else. Music has rubato, breaths and phrase endings that stretch, and those are practiced without a click. The healthy approach is to alternate: with the metronome to build, without it to play.