How it works
On this metronome 4/4 is already set: the number counts the quarter note, four to a bar, and beat one clicks higher. Wikipedia's Time signature article calls 4/4 the commonest signature of pop, rock, blues, country and funk.
Read the full guide
Start
Press the pad, or Space, and the four dots light in turn from the larger one. Press again and it stops.
Change the tempo
Tap the number under the pad to type the speed you need, or step it with minus and plus. The bar stays in four at every tempo.
Questions and answers
How to set a metronome for 4 4 time?
There is nothing to set here beyond the speed: the bar of four is fixed and its first beat is marked. Type the tempo your music asks for and start the pad.
What is 4/4 time on a metronome?
Four clicks to a bar, each a quarter note. Open Music Theory's chapter on simple metre reads the signature so: the upper 4 is the beats in a bar, the lower 4 says the quarter note gets the beat. It calls this simple quadruple metre.
Is 4/4 the same as common time?
Yes. Open Music Theory gives common time as the equivalent of 4/4, and Wikipedia's Time signature article shows the symbol that is sometimes printed in place of the two figures. A score that opens with that symbol takes this setting.
How is 4/4 different from 2/4?
The grouping: fours against twos. Open Music Theory notes that the two feel alike, since four beats split into two pairs, and that listening alone may not tell them apart. On this page the higher click comes once in four.
Why can't I hear the metronome?
A muted phone is the usual cause: check the ring switch, then the volume, then any Bluetooth speaker or headphones that may be holding the sound. The four dots go on lighting in turn without it.