Seven as two, two and three
This page opens the metronome in 7/8 with the bar grouped 2+2+3: every eighth note clicks, beat 1 is accented, and the starts of the second and third groups (eighths 3 and 5) get medium accents. The tempo, 210, counts eighth notes. What you feel are three beats of unequal length: short, short, long.
7/8 shows up in Balkan folk music, progressive rock and jazz, and each style has its favourite grouping. The Accents menu lists all three ways to split seven into twos and threes; pick the one you hear in the music, or tap the circles to place the accents yourself.
Practising it
- Start with the skeleton. Tap the four unaccented circles until their rings are dashed: the metronome then plays only the three group starts, the uneven pulse itself.
- Add the eighths back once you can clap the pulse without thinking.
- Speed up gradually with the speed trainer: from 150, add 6 BPM every 4 bars up to 210 or your goal.
- Switch groupings at the same tempo (2+2+3, then 3+2+2) to make sure you are hearing groups and not counting to seven.
For odd time in quarter notes, open the 5/4 metronome. For eighth-note meters that divide evenly, try the 6/8 metronome.