Cool Metronome

4/4

120

Allegro

Tempo trainer

Speed up automatically as you play.

Gap bars

The click drops out so you keep time alone.

Counters
Bars 0
Practice time 00:00

A free online metronome that keeps the whole practice kit in one place

Set a tempo, hit play, and the click starts. Everything past that — meter, subdivisions, accents, a tempo trainer, gap bars, a bar counter, a practice timer and saved setlists — sits one tap away in the drawer, with no account and no upgrade prompt in between.

Tap the tempo you already hear

If you know how a passage should feel but not what number it is, press Tap four times in rhythm. The tempo is averaged across your last few taps, and pausing for a couple of seconds starts a fresh measurement rather than averaging against a stale one.

Odd meters are ordinary here

Cycle the time signature in the toolbar for the common ones, or set beats per bar and beat unit directly for 5/4, 7/8, 11/8 and anything else up to sixteen beats. Every beat in the bar can be set to accented, normal or silent, so a 7/8 grouped 3+2+2 sounds the way you count it.

Practise getting faster, deliberately

The tempo trainer adds a set number of BPM every few bars until it reaches your target, always stepping at a bar line rather than mid-phrase. Gap bars do the opposite job: the click drops out for a few bars and returns, showing you whether your own pulse held.

Built to be read from a music stand

The tempo is set at the largest size the screen allows, the beat bars run the full width of the display, and the beat is always shown as well as heard — which matters in a loud room and matters more if you are deaf or hard of hearing. Every control is reachable from the keyboard, and the ones you reach for mid-phrase — start, tap, tempo, subdivision — have a key of their own.

Tempo markings and their BPM ranges

Italian tempo terms describe a range rather than an exact speed, and editions disagree at the edges. These are the ranges Cool Metronome uses to label the tempo you have set.

Marking BPM Character
Grave 20–40 Very slow and solemn
Largo 40–60 Broad
Larghetto 60–66 Slightly less broad
Adagio 66–76 Slow and stately
Andante 76–108 Walking pace
Moderato 108–120 Moderate
Allegro 120–156 Fast and bright
Vivace 156–176 Lively
Presto 176–200 Very fast
Prestissimo 200+ As fast as it goes

Questions

Is this metronome really free?
Yes. Every feature — tap tempo, odd meters, subdivisions, the tempo trainer, gap bars and saved setlists — works without an account, a download or a payment. The site is supported by advertising.
Is an online metronome accurate enough to practise with?
Yes, when it is built correctly. Cool Metronome schedules every click directly on your device’s audio clock a fraction of a second ahead of time, rather than relying on a JavaScript timer, so the tempo does not drift over a long session.
Can I use it on my phone?
Yes. The layout is built for a phone propped on a music stand, with controls large enough to hit while holding an instrument. Browsers require one tap before any sound plays, so the first press of the play button also unlocks audio.
What is a tempo trainer?
A tempo trainer raises the tempo automatically as you play — for example, four BPM every four bars up to a target. It is the standard way to take a passage from slow and accurate to fast and accurate without stopping to change the tempo yourself.
What are gap bars?
Gap bars silence the click for a set number of bars and then bring it back. If you are still in time when it returns, your internal pulse is steady. It is one of the most effective timing exercises available and needs no extra equipment.
Will my setlist still be there tomorrow?
Saved tempos live in your own browser, so they survive closing the tab and returning later on the same device and browser. Clearing your browsing data, using private mode, or switching to another device will not carry them over.