Practice guidesTime signatures
Time signatures and beat units on SixtyBPM
The time-signature picker and the beat-unit picker do different jobs. Mixing them up is why the click can feel “wrong” even when the BPM number is right. This page is the map of those two controls on SixtyBPM.
Two controls, two meanings
Tempo + beat unit set how much time sits between clicks. At 60 BPM with a quarter-note beat, clicks are one second apart. Switch the beat unit to eighth and the clicks come twice as often at the same 60 in the box.
Time signature sets how many of those clicks make a bar, and whether beat 1 is accented. It does not change the gap between clicks. 4/4 and 3/4 at the same tempo and beat unit click at the same speed; only the accent pattern changes.
What each signature on this metronome does
| Picker | Clicks per bar | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| 1/1 | 1, no accent contrast | You want a pulse without a downbeat bump, or you are marking 2 and 4 yourself. |
| 2/4 | 2, accent on 1 | Marches, polkas, or a half-bar loop you want to hear as a pair. |
| 3/4 | 3, accent on 1 | Waltzes and minuets. If you accent every click, it stops being a waltz. |
| 4/4 | 4, accent on 1 | Most pop, rock and classical common time. Default for first sessions. |
| 5/4 | 5, accent on 1 | Odd meter with a quarter-note beat. Speak 3+2 or 2+3 on top of the five clicks. |
| 6/8 | 6, accent on 1 | Compound duple. Set beat unit to eighth so the six clicks are eighth notes, then feel two groups of three. |
7/8 and 9/8 are not separate buttons. Use 1/1 and count the grouping out loud, or click eighths in a meter you do have and ignore extra clicks. The odd-meter guide is about grouping, not about waiting for a 7/8 icon.
6/8 without a dotted-quarter key
In theory, a 6/8 groove often pulses on two dotted quarters. SixtyBPM’s beat units are whole, half, quarter, eighth and sixteenth — not dotted values. The practical setup:
- Time signature 6/8, beat unit eighth, tempo 60. You hear six even clicks. Group them 123 456 with your body.
- If six clicks are too busy, switch to 2/4 or 1/1 at a slower tempo and treat each click as a dotted-quarter pulse. Then you are responsible for the three eighths inside each click.
Do not set 6/8 with a quarter-note beat and expect textbook compound meter. That pairing gives six slow quarter clicks, which is a different piece of music.
When to use 1/1
1/1 turns off the bar accent. Use it when the accent is fighting the style (some funk and jazz want a quieter 1), when you are practising backbeats (you supply 2 and 4), or when the written meter is changing every bar and a fake downbeat would lie.
A two-minute setup check
Before any repertoire session:
- Name the written time signature of the excerpt.
- Name what one click should mean (usually the written beat, sometimes a subdivision).
- Press Start and count one bar out loud. If the accent falls on the wrong word, change the picker, not the music.
Keep practicing
Open the SixtyBPM metronome and run one short session with this method before you read another article.
- Subdivision practice at 60 BPM — A subdivision ladder that stays at 60 BPM so note density changes while the pulse does not.
- How to stop rushing and dragging — A diagnosis-first approach: find where the beat moves, then pick the click placement that makes that error audible.
- Metronome guide for beginners — A first-session walkthrough of this metronome, including counting, pass criteria and when not to start at 60 BPM.