Waltz time on this metronome
This page opens the metronome in 3/4 at 90 BPM: three beats to a bar, the first one accented with the high woodblock and the other two softer. Press Start (or the Space bar) and count ONE-two-three with the circles; the orange ring marks the downbeat.
3/4 is the meter of waltzes, minuets, mazurkas and many folk songs and ballads. What makes it feel like a waltz is the strong first beat followed by two lighter ones, so the accent is the most useful thing a metronome can give you here. If your piece leans on a different beat (a mazurka often stresses beat 2 or 3), tap that circle to make it a medium accent.
Practising in three
- Hands that rush the bar: a common habit in waltz accompaniment (bass note on 1, chords on 2 and 3) is to shorten beat 3. Add 2 per beat under Clicks per beat: the extra eighth clicks show whether the chords sit exactly on the beat.
- Feeling it in one: at faster speeds, silence beats 2 and 3 by tapping them until their ring is dashed. You then hear only the ONE, which is how players feel a fast waltz.
- Finding a recording’s speed: play the song and press Tap tempo on each beat (not each bar) four or more times.
- Getting it up to speed: open the speed trainer, start a little under your clean tempo and add 2–4 BPM every 4 or 8 bars.
For a sway in two groups of three instead of three beats, open the 6/8 metronome.