The Metronome window is a standalone tool which can be opened from anywhere in the workspace with Tools-Metronome.

It gives a both an audible and visual metronome beat to practice playing against.  You can change the tempo and the time signature of the metronome beat, and several other options.

You can change the voice, the level and the pitch of the accent and normal beats from the Sound page.

Controls

Beat Grid

This area at the top of the Metronome window gives you a visual display of the metronome beats while it is playing.

It is divided into several squares, one for each beat in the Time Signature you have selected.  The beats are numbered starting from 1 up to a maximum of 15.  For time signatures with beat counts of 10 or higher, the grid is divided into two rows.

While the metronome is playing, the current beat is highlighted with a background color, which can be changed in the Display page.

Play

Starts the metronome with the specified settings.  When you first open the Metronome window, this button has the focus, so you can start the metronome with the Space bar.

If the metronome is active, pressing Play again will stop it.  While the metronome is playing, most options are disabled, but you can still make changes to the Tempo at any time.

Stop

Stops the metronome.

Tempo

Specifies the tempo, or speed of the metronome.  It can vary from 30 to 240 quarter notes per minute (qpm).  This may be the same as beats per minute, or not, depending on the time signature.

To adjust the tempo, you can either move the slider control, or type the new tempo into the box provided.  Each of these will update the other.

Time Signature

This drop-down list specifies which time signature you want the metronome to play.  All of the standard time signatures are available, and the Beat Grid will be updated to show the number of beats.

Play Beats

This drop-down list specifies which of the beats in the meter should be sounded.  Usually you will select All, but some practise techniques are based on playing only some beats.

All - all beat in the meter are sounded.

Odds - only odd numbered beats in the meter are sounded.

Evens - only even beats in the meter are sounded.

Thirds - available only for compound time signatures.  Only the starting beat of each triplet is sounded.

Regardless which option is selected, the Beat Grid will still visually indicate timing for all beats of the meter.

Play Accents

Plays the first beat of each bar with a different pitch and volume to help you stay synchronized with the meter.  You can select the accent sound with the Sound page.

If you have chosen to play only Even beats, the second beat will be accented instead.  For compound time signatures (6/8, 9/8, 12/8, etc) there is also a sub-accent for the start of each triplet.

This option is disabled for a Silent metronome.

Silent

This option turns the sound off, giving you only the visual display of the Beat Grid for keeping time.

Close

Closes the metronome and returns to the workspace.

Help

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