How it works
A 126 BPM metronome plays the mark printed over the minuet of Beethoven's Eighth Symphony: Wikipedia's article on the work shows the movement's opening in 3/4 at Tempo di menuetto, quarter note = 126. Each click is one quarter note.
Read the full guide
Start
Tap the pad, or press Space. Every beat sounds the same, so the click implies no bar; tap once more for silence.
Change the tempo
Type another tempo by tapping the number under the pad; minus and plus shift it by one. Wikipedia's article prints two more of the symphony's marks: 69 over the first movement and 84 over the finale.
Questions and answers
Is 126 BPM a waltz tempo?
Wikipedia's Tempo article gives about quarter note = 126 as one speed for Tempo di valse, waltz speed: 42 bars of three a minute (our sum). World DanceSport Federation rules set the Waltz at 28 to 30 bars, the Viennese Waltz at 58 to 60.
How do I count 126 BPM in 3/4?
Three clicks to a bar, as in the Eighth Symphony's minuet. Nothing here marks the first of them, so the counting is yours. For a higher click on beat one, open the 3/4 metronome and type 126 into it.
What is 126 BPM called in Italian?
Allegro, fast and bright, 120 to 156 in Wikipedia's list of tempo markings. Molto allegro, or Allegro vivace, starts at 124 and shares that top, so 126 lies just inside it too. The figures, the list says, are rough and change with composer and work.
Is 126 the first step after 120 on a wind-up metronome?
On the usual scale, yes. Wikipedia's Metronome article lists the commonest set of numbers: up in fours as far as 120, then in sixes to 144, which gives 126, 132 and 138. Such a dial has no 121 to 125; this page does.
Why can't I hear the metronome?
Most often it is the phone: its ring switch is on silent, the volume is all the way down, or Bluetooth headphones are playing it instead. The two dots trade places on each beat with or without sound.