7/8 Metronome

How 7/8 works

Seven eighth notes per measure — the classic odd meter of prog rock, Balkan folk, and film scores. It limps deliciously because one group is always short.

Counting and accent groupings

2+2+3, 3+2+2, or 2+3+2. The placement of the long group defines the groove — Balkan rachenitsa is 2+2+3, and the "Tom Sawyer" bridge is usually counted 3+2+2. Count syllables, not numbers: "ap-ple ap-ple pine-ap-ple."

How the tempo works: this tool always reads BPM as quarter-note BPM (♩ = BPM), so with the meter set to 7/8 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. The eighths group unevenly, so no single beat value divides the bar evenly — you feel the uneven groups riding on a steady eighth-note grid. Start slower than you think you need.

Music in 7/8

• The instrumental bridge of Rush's "Tom Sawyer"
• Balkan folk dances (rachenitsa)
• Pink Floyd's "Money" is the related 7/4 — same seven, quarter-note pulse

Practicing 7/8

The fastest route to feeling 7/8 is hearing the subdivisions while you count the groupings out loud. Add a subdivision with the subdivision metronome, or build a practice track that alternates a familiar meter with this one using the multi-section click track tool. One honest limitation: this free tool accents only the downbeat. To accent the actual groupings — like 2+2+3 in 7/8 — Subdivide for iOS supports custom accent patterns per measure, which makes this meter dramatically clearer to practice.

Other time signatures

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