60 BPM Metronome
A free 60 BPM online metronome, exactly one beat per second, with accents, time signatures and tap tempo.
Timing is scheduled on the Web Audio clock, so the beat stays steady even while the page is busy. Tap the tempo button in time with a song to set the BPM by ear.
60 BPM is exactly one beat per second, which makes it the easiest tempo to sanity-check by counting along with a clock. It sits in the slow Larghetto to Lento range and is a common starting point for practicing a new piece well under speed.
What 60 BPM is used for
Because 60 BPM lines up one beat to one second, it is the standard reference for testing whether a metronome or click track is accurate at all: count 10 clicks and 10 seconds should pass. It is also a common tempo for slow, meditative practice, learning a difficult passage a bar at a time, and for ballads and hymns that call for an unhurried, steady pulse.
Many teachers start a new student on a piece at 60 BPM regardless of its marked tempo, since it is slow enough to place every note correctly before building speed. Once the passage is clean, nudge the tempo up in small steps rather than jumping straight to full speed.
Frequently asked questions
What note value is one beat at 60 BPM?
At 60 BPM, one beat lasts exactly one second, so a quarter note in 4/4 time takes one second and a full bar takes four seconds.
What tempo marking is 60 BPM?
60 BPM sits around Larghetto to Lento, a slow, unhurried tempo, roughly the same slow-practice range as Largo, which the main TuneStand metronome places near 50 BPM.
Why practice at 60 BPM?
It is slow enough to play every note accurately while you learn a new passage, and its exact one-second beat makes it easy to count and verify by ear before increasing speed.