A compás clock with palmas and cajón, and a preset for every palo
The metronome above opens in the Flamenco clock view: the 12 beats of the compás sit around a clock face with 12 at the top, the accented beats are lit, and the hand sweeps round as it plays. Pick a palo and the beat count, the accents and a typical tempo load at once; then slide or tap the tempo to where you want it. The cajón is the default sound, with palmas (handclaps), wood and a digital click one tap away, and the accents get the stronger stroke.
| Palo | Beats | Accents | Typical BPM | Counted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soleá | 12 | 3, 6, 8, 10, 12 | 60 to 90 | Counted from 12: 12 1 2 [3] 4 5 [6] 7 [8] 9 [10] 11 [12]. |
| Soleá por bulería | 12 | 3, 6, 8, 10, 12 | 100 to 130 | The soleá accents at a walking pace, counted from 12. |
| Alegrías | 12 | 3, 6, 8, 10, 12 | 120 to 170 | The same 12-count as soleá, brighter and quicker. |
| Bulerías | 12 | 3, 6, 8, 10, 12 | 180 to 240 | Counted from 12, fast: 12 1 2 [3] 4 5 [6] 7 [8] 9 [10] 11 [12]. |
| Seguiriya | 12 | 1, 3, 5, 8, 11 | 50 to 80 | Five uneven counts, 1 and 2 and 3 and a 4 and a 5 and, written over 12 beats with the accents on 1, 3, 5, 8 and 11. |
| Tangos | 4 | 2, 4 | 100 to 140 | Four beats with the weight on 2 and 4 and a light 1. |
| Tientos | 4 | 2, 4 | 55 to 80 | Tangos slowed right down, the same four-beat accent. |
| Rumba | 4 | 1, 3 | 100 to 135 | Plain four with the weight on 1 and 3; the strumming hand fills the off-beats. |
| Fandangos | 3 | 1 | 105 to 135 | Three beats with the accent on 1, often felt as four groups of three. |
| Sevillanas | 3 | 1 | 115 to 140 | Three beats with the accent on 1; four coplas make a dance. |
Soleá, alegrías, soleá por bulería and bulerías share one cycle of twelve beats with the accents on 3, 6, 8, 10 and 12. Flamencos count it from the 12, which is why the clock starts there: 12, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. The first half moves in threes (12 to 3, 3 to 6) and the second half in twos (6 to 8, 8 to 10, 10 to 12), and that shift from three to two is the whole feel of the compás. Practise saying the numbers out loud with the clock until the accents land without counting; then take the light off (the Light control) and keep your place by ear.
Seguiriya uses the same twelve beats but starts them in a different place: five uneven counts of 2, 2, 3, 3 and 2, with the accents on 1, 3, 5, 8 and 11. Tangos, tientos and rumba are four-beat palos, and fandangos and sevillanas run in three; the presets switch the clock to four or three beats for those.
Palmas are the handclaps that carry the compás in a flamenco group; the palmas sound here plays the accented beats with a sharper, louder clap. The cajón is the box drum that joined flamenco in the 1970s and now sits under most guitar and dance work; it gives you a bass stroke on the accents and a slap in between. Set Sound to Accent to hear only the accented beats, or Light to Accent to see them, and the metronome becomes a palmero who only marks the strong beats, the way you would learn it in a studio in Jerez or Seville.
Compás is the rhythmic cycle of a palo: how many beats it has and where the accents fall. Soleá, alegrías and bulerías share a 12-beat cycle with accents on 3, 6, 8, 10 and 12; tangos and rumba run in four; fandangos and sevillanas in three. Keeping compás means never losing your place in that cycle, which is what this metronome drills.
From the 12: 12, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, with the accents on 3, 6, 8, 10 and 12. The clock here starts on 12 so the first accent lands where a dancer or palmero expects it. Start slow, around 160 BPM, and work up; a performance bulerías sits between 180 and 240.
Slow: roughly 60 to 90 beats per minute, with 70 a comfortable middle. Soleá por bulería runs 100 to 130 and bulerías 180 to 240. Every preset here loads a typical tempo you can nudge with the slider or tap in.
Yes. The Flamenco view switches to cajón by default and offers palmas (handclaps), wood and a digital click. The accented beats get the stronger stroke.
Yes. Tap any beat on the clock to add or remove an accent. The palo buttons give you the standard pattern to start from, and the beat count follows the palo: 12, 4 or 3.
Yes, with no download. It runs in the browser on a phone or computer, and the main metronome page can be installed as an app that keeps working offline.
Want the full set of time signatures, tap tempo and the installable app? Use the main online metronome. Tuning up first? The guitar tuner is free too, and the tab editor writes out your falsetas.
