Speed Trainer Metronome — Automatic Tempo Ramp

A speed trainer is a metronome that raises its own tempo for you. Set a starting BPM, a step size, how many bars to wait between steps, and a ceiling; the click climbs in measured increments and then holds at the top. This page mounts the full metronome with the trainer controls ready.

How to use it

1. Set the starting tempo. Drag the weight or use the slider. This is where the first bar begins.
2. Open the Speed trainer row and press the On button. The row sits under the click-sound controls; it is off by default.
3. Set three values: Step (how many BPM to add), Every (how many bars between steps), and Up to (the ceiling).
4. Press Start and play. The indicator next to the trainer flashes the new BPM whenever a step fires, and a screen reader announces it too.
5. Stop when accuracy goes, not when the tempo arrives. The ceiling is a limit, not a target you must finish.

The exact behaviour of the ramp

• Step size is a whole number of BPM from 1 to 50; the default is 5.
• The step lands on a bar line. The trainer counts bars at your meter. When the interval you set has passed, the bar you are finishing stays at the old tempo and the next downbeat plays at the new one — the change is never mid-bar.
• Interval is from 1 to 16 bars; the default is 2.
• Ceiling is a BPM value from 30 to 240; the default is 200. Steps clamp to it: a 5 BPM step that would overshoot lands on the ceiling instead.
• It holds at the ceiling. The trainer never stops or reverses on its own.
• Restart points. Switching the trainer on mid-run, or changing the base tempo while it is active, restarts the ramp from the current tempo.
• If the start is already at or above the ceiling, the trainer has nowhere to go and the tempo stays put.

Starting points for different players

These are suggestions to adjust, not prescriptions. The right ramp is the one where your playing stays accurate through the climb.

Practice	Starting tempo	Step	Every	Ceiling
Guitar — single-note lines	~60–70% of target	2–4 BPM	2 bars	target + a few BPM
Guitar — chord changes	comfortable changes	2 BPM	4 bars	target
Drums — rudiments	~50–60% of target	2–5 BPM	2–4 bars	target
Drums — groove and fills	where the groove is clean	2 BPM	4 bars	target
Piano — passage work	slow enough for zero errors	2–3 BPM	2 bars	target

Two adjustments matter more than the exact numbers: if you hit the ceiling and you were still clean, raise the ceiling or lengthen the session; if errors appear before the ceiling, lower the ceiling and slow the step.

Why small increments work

Speed is built from repetitions that are played correctly. When the tempo rises faster than your hands can adapt, the repetitions you are practising are the mistakes — wrong fingerings, tension, rushing — and those are what get rehearsed. A small step keeps the error rate low while still moving the target, so most of what you play is the version you want to keep. It also makes the failure point legible: if a 2 BPM step breaks the passage, you have found the tempo where technique changes, which is useful information rather than a defeat.

Endurance and accuracy

• Accuracy first. If a tempo cannot be played cleanly for a minute, it is a sprint, not your working tempo. Keep the ramp ceiling at or just above the tempo you can hold.
• Endurance sessions are different. Pick one tempo below your ceiling and hold it for a long block without a ramp. The trainer does not measure this for you; it just gives you a tempo to sit on.
• Do not confuse the two. A ramp that keeps climbing is a diagnostic tool. A metronome that never moves is an endurance tool. Use each for its own job.

Breaking a plateau

1. Change the window, not the tempo. A plateau on 2 BPM every 2 bars often moves with 1 BPM every bar — same climb, different shape.
2. Narrow the range. Start closer to the target and use a smaller step; long slow climbs hide sloppy early bars.
3. Use bursts. Two bars on, two bars off, with the ramp running, gives short exposures at the edge without locking in fatigue.
4. Change the material. A different scale, inversion or sticking at the same tempo often unlocks the original passage.
5. Record the session. Listening back tells you whether the ceiling is a technique limit or a confidence limit.

Accuracy and limits

• One ramp per run. There is no descending ramp, no automatic repeat between two tempos, and no per-bar custom pattern.
• No session history. The trainer shows the current BPM and flashes each step; it does not log or chart the run.
• The click grid is bar-based. Subdivision clicks follow the new tempo as it steps, and the 7/8 or 5/4 accent pattern stays consistent at every tempo.
• Timing is the shared lookahead scheduler. The audio clock stays steady through the tempo changes; the full explanation is on the metronome page.
• No preset on this page. The trainer row is always visible, but it starts Off; one click enables it, and the starting values are 5 BPM, every 2 bars, up to 200 BPM.