How it works
A 7/8 metronome counts the eighth note, seven to a bar. This one stresses them two, two and three, which Wikipedia's Septuple meter article reports as the commonest of the three patterns in a survey of mostly American popular music.
Read the full guide
Start
Tap the pad, or press Space. Clicks one, three and five are the raised ones, with one the highest. A second tap stops the bar.
Change the tempo
Tap the number under the pad and type an eighth-note tempo: 140 and 199 go in exactly as 120 does. Minus and plus alter it a single step each press.
Questions and answers
How do you count in 7/8?
One two, one two, one two three: each raised click is a new one. Open Music Theory notes that the groups of such a bar usually show in how the eighth notes are beamed, or in a signature written out as 2+2+3 over 8.
Can 7/8 be counted 3+2+2?
Yes. The Septuple meter article gives three stress patterns: 2+2+3, 3+2+2 and, occasionally, 2+3+2. This page clicks the first only. In a 3+2+2 piece its second and third raised clicks come one note early, so follow the highest click, the first of the seven.
How many beats does 7/8 have?
Seven eighth notes, grouped here as three uneven beats: two short and one long. Wikipedia's article on additive rhythm says groups of two and three are sometimes called short beats and long beats. The pad's three larger dots are those beats.
What kind of music uses 7/8?
Folk dance more than the concert hall, historically. The Septuple meter article calls seven rare in European concert music before the 20th century and names the Bulgarian rachenitsa, a rapid dance in seven divided two, two and three, as this page is.
Why can't I hear the metronome?
A phone can swallow the click three ways: a ring switch set to silent, the volume right down, or Bluetooth headphones left connected in another room. The seven dots step round the bar all the same, three of them larger.