Metronome Beats

Review by eFreeware

If you teach an instrument, drill scales at home, keep a band in time at rehearsal or count steps in a dance studio, a metronome is one of those tools you reach for constantly. Metronome Beats from Stonekick is built for exactly that crowd: a free click track with a drum machine and a speed trainer attached, plus enough control over accents, subdivisions and sound that it can follow you into more demanding practice rather than sitting at a fixed tick.

The numbers back up how widely it has been picked up. It has more than 10 million installs and a 4.7 average from over 182,000 ratings, and it has been on Google Play since December 2011, which makes it one of the longer-running options in the Music & Audio category. It is free to download, carries ads, and offers in-app purchases, with a Pro tier the developer describes as adding tools for serious practice and live performance.

A click track you can steer with one hand

The core of the app is a metronome that runs from 1 to 900 BPM, which covers everything from slow, deliberate scale work to fast technical passages. Tempo can be set by sweeping a slider, by nudging it in steps of 1 or 5 BPM, or by tapping the beat out with a finger when you do not know the number. That last option is the one I would expect to use most in a lesson, since it means you can match a student's comfortable speed without breaking the conversation.

Control is designed around one hand, which matters when the other is holding an instrument, a bow or a baton. Visual beat indicators show where you are in the bar, so you can mute the sound and still keep time while reading music or talking through a passage with a student. Settings are saved automatically, so the tempo, accent pattern and sound you set last time are waiting when you come back.

There is also a set of smaller conveniences that add up over a long practice session: a bar and beat counter, Italian tempo markings from Largo to Vivace for when a score names the speed instead of numbering it, and a timer that stops the click after a chosen number of bars or seconds. Adjustable pitch and custom sounds let you tune the click so it cuts through whatever instrument you are playing.

Speed trainer and the rhythm tools

The speed trainer is the feature I would point a student toward first. It raises or lowers the tempo automatically over a set number of bars or seconds, so a difficult passage starts slow and arrives at performance speed without you stopping to adjust anything. That is a much more disciplined way to build up a run than guessing when to move the dial.

For rhythm work, the app goes well beyond a plain click. It handles polyrhythms, swing and tricky subdivisions, allowing as many as 16 clicks in a single beat, along with accent patterns you define yourself and less common time signatures. You can mute or accent individual beats, which is useful for practicing a part that only lands on certain beats of the bar, and the accent pattern can be shaped to match the music rather than the default strong-weak pulse.

The drum machine sits alongside the metronome rather than replacing it. It offers multiple drum kits, programmable patterns and mixer control, so you can play along to a groove instead of a click. For anyone whose timing falls apart the moment a real rhythm section appears, that is a meaningful step up from counting to a beep.

Presets, sharing and playing alongside other apps

Custom presets let you save and recall the settings you use most, which is the difference between a metronome that fits your practice routine and one you reconfigure every time. Settings can be exported and imported as .mbeats files, so a teacher can hand a student a preset or move a set of tempos between devices without rebuilding them by hand.

The app is built to run in the background alongside sheet-music and tab apps, which is how I would expect most players to use it: notation on screen, click in the ear. Lock-screen and Bluetooth media controls mean you can start, stop or adjust playback without unlocking the phone, and a tablet layout puts every control on one screen for use on a music stand.

Light and dark themes are included, along with the recent addition of voice counting, which can be turned on from the Preferences menu. That gives you a spoken count instead of a click, which may suit teaching situations where a verbal count is easier for a student to follow.

What Pro adds, and what the free version carries

The free download includes the metronome, drum machine and speed trainer, and it is supported by ads, with in-app purchases available. The developer's Pro tier is where the performance-oriented features live: setlists that chain presets together for rehearsals and gigs, a Songs mode for building a piece from sections such as intro, verse and chorus, where every section carries its own tempo, meter and number of bars, and a Live mode with larger controls for switching between songs on stage. Pro also removes adverts.

That split makes sense for the app's two audiences. A student practicing at home gets the full practice toolkit without paying, while someone running a set on stage is the one who benefits from chained presets and a stage-friendly interface. If your use is mostly solo practice, the free version covers the ground; if you are organizing a rehearsal or a gig around the app, the Pro features are the reason to consider it.

The other trade-off worth weighing is focus. Metronome Beats is a timing tool, not a tuner, a recording app or a notation editor. Everything it does circles back to keeping you in time, and the depth is in subdivisions, accents, drum patterns and tempo automation rather than in features outside that remit.

Where it fits: teachers, students and stage players

The people most likely to get value here are instrumental teachers and their students. The one-handed controls, visual beat indicators and mute-the-click option are made for a lesson where you need to demonstrate, talk and keep time at once, and the tap tempo and nudge controls make it easy to meet a student at their current speed. Dancers and running cadence users are also named by the developer, and both are cases where a steady, adjustable pulse is the whole point.

Solo players drilling difficult passages are the second clear fit. The speed trainer, polyrhythms, swing and accent control give you ways to break a passage down and rebuild it, and the timer means a practice block can end on its own after a set number of bars. The drum machine extends that to players who want to work against a groove rather than a click.

Band members and gigging musicians are the group the Pro tier is written for. Setlists, Songs and Live mode are aimed at moving between tempos and sections during a rehearsal or performance, which is a different job from practicing one passage at home. If that is your situation, the paid features are the part of the app that matters; if it is not, the free metronome is the part you will use, and it is a capable one.

A dependable click for daily practice

Metronome Beats justifies itself by doing the unglamorous job well: a wide tempo range, precise control over accents and subdivisions, a speed trainer that takes the guesswork out of building up to tempo, and a drum machine for when a click is not enough. The automatic saving of settings and the ability to run alongside notation apps make it easy to fold into an existing practice routine rather than adding friction to it.

It is free with ads and in-app purchases, and the Pro tier is aimed at players who need setlists, songs and a stage-friendly interface. For a teacher, a student or a dancer who needs a reliable pulse, the free version is the sensible starting point. For someone whose work involves moving through a set of tempos in front of an audience, the paid tools are the reason to look at it.

What's new in version 7.5.0

Metronome Beats now includes voice counting! You can turn this on from the Preferences menu. We hope that you like these changes. If you have any questions or feature requests you can email us at [email protected].