3/8 Metronome

How 3/8 works

Three quick eighth notes per measure — the same shape as 3/4 in half the space. Composers write 3/8 when the music moves quickly enough that the whole bar becomes one pulse.

Counting and accent groupings

One group of three, and at speed the bar is felt "in one" — a single dotted-quarter pulse per measure with the three eighths rippling inside it.

How the tempo works: this tool always reads BPM as quarter-note BPM (♩ = BPM), so with the meter set to 3/8 the beat is an eighth note and the click runs at twice the number you set. At 140 BPM that's 280 eighth notes a minute. At speed the whole bar collapses into a single pulse — a dotted quarter at about 93 BPM — which is how printed music usually marks it: ♩. = 93 means ♩ = 140 here. Start slower than you think you need.

Music in 3/8

• Baroque passepieds and other quick triple-meter dances
• Quick Classical variation and finale movements written in 3/8 and felt in one
• Light, quick waltz-like passages where 3/4 would feel too heavy

Practicing 3/8

The fastest route to feeling 3/8 is locking onto the "in one" pulse while the subdivisions run inside it. Hear them with the subdivision metronome, or alternate this meter with a familiar one using the multi-section click track tool. This free tool accents the downbeat, and in a bar this quick the downbeat is the pulse itself. For subdivided accent patterns and smooth tempo ramps between sections, Subdivide for iOS picks up where this tool stops.

Other time signatures

4/4 metronome · 3/4 metronome · 2/4 metronome · 5/4 metronome · 6/4 metronome · 6/8 metronome · 7/8 metronome · 9/8 metronome · 12/8 metronome — or see every time signature.