How it works
Metronome 108 is the speed Hanon's piano exercises are worked up to: the note over exercise 1 of The Virtuoso Pianist, in Schirmer's edition, says to begin with the metronome at 60 and raise it gradually to 108.
Read the full guide
Start
Tap the pad, or press Space, and 108 begins: a higher click, then three level ones, bar after bar. One more tap ends it.
Change the tempo
Tap the number under the pad to type a different tempo, or press plus and minus to move by one beat a minute.
Questions and answers
Does moderato start at 108 BPM?
In Wikipedia's list of tempo markings, yes: Moderato runs 108 to 120. Three markings stop on the same number: Andante (56 to 108), Andantino and Andante moderato (each 80 to 108). The list offers its figures as very rough approximations that composers treat differently.
Which piano exercises are practised at 108 BPM?
Hanon's build up to it. The Virtuoso Pianist prints a double mark, 60 to 108, over the exercises of Part I, and its note to Part II asks for the same climb in each later exercise that carries no tempo of its own.
Which symphony is marked 108 BPM?
Beethoven's Fifth. Wikipedia's article on the symphony heads the opening Allegro con brio half note = 108, in 2/4, and German Wikipedia dates his marks to 1817. A half note fills that bar: one click a bar, 216 quarter notes a minute by our sum.
Is 108 printed on a mechanical metronome?
It has a notch on the usual scale. Wikipedia's Metronome article lists the most common arrangement going up four at a time between 72 and 120, so 104, 108 and 112 follow one another. Other arrangements exist.
Why can't I hear the metronome?
If nothing sounds on a phone, look for a ring switch set to silent, a volume slider at the bottom, or Bluetooth earphones carrying the click. The beat is still on screen: one large dot, then three small, lit in order.