Rhythm & meter
How to count and practise 6/8 time
The short answer
Most 6/8 music is felt as two dotted-quarter beats per bar. Count the six eighth notes as “ONE two three FOUR five six,” with the strongest accent on ONE and a secondary pulse on FOUR. Browser Metronome’s 6/8 BPM number therefore refers to dotted-quarter beats.
A 6/8 subdivision routine
- Set 6/8 at 60 BPM and choose 8ths so all six eighth-note positions sound.
- Count “ONE two three FOUR five six” for four bars.
- Clap only ONE and FOUR while continuing to say all six counts.
- Play your passage while feeling two large beats, each divided into three.
- Switch Click On to Beats and keep the smaller subdivisions internally.
Optional progression
Alternate four bars with audible eighths and four bars with only the two dotted-quarter beats. Later, use Gap Trainer to remove a bar of click while keeping the two-in-a-bar pulse.
Common mistakes
- Counting six unrelated beats: group the notes 3+3 and feel ONE–FOUR.
- Treating the BPM as an eighth-note value: here the displayed ♩. is the beat unit.
- Making both pulses equally heavy: FOUR supports the bar, but ONE remains the downbeat.
Success criterion
Progress when the passage stays steady with Click On set to Beats. The six eighth-note positions should remain even, and the next downbeat should stay clear without counting aloud.