4/4 Metronome

How 4/4 works

Four quarter-note beats per measure — the default meter of pop, rock, hip hop, and electronic music, so universal that scores shorthand it with a "C" for common time.

Counting and accent groupings

A strong ONE with a secondary accent on three — or, in most popular styles, the backbeat: snare cracking on two and four while the downbeat anchors the bar.

Music in 4/4

• The overwhelming majority of pop, rock, hip hop, and EDM
• Twelve-bar blues and four-to-the-bar swing
• Marches and four-on-the-floor dance grooves

Practicing 4/4

Even in the world's most familiar meter, the groove lives in where you place notes against the click. Keep the space between beats honest with the subdivision metronome, or chain tempo steps with the multi-section click track tool. One honest limitation: this free tool accents only the downbeat. To hear the backbeat on 2 and 4 accented instead, Subdivide for iOS supports custom accent patterns per measure.

Other time signatures

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