About Rhythm Tutor

Rhythm Tutor is a metronome plus 25 rhythm patterns in 8 levels, from steady quarter notes to syncopated sixteenths. Clap (the microphone listens) or tap (spacebar or tap pad), and every hit is placed on the beat grid with its timing error in milliseconds. Each mistake gets one named hint right away.

How it works

• The metronome is built from Web Audio oscillators, scheduled ahead on the audio clock so the clicks stay steady even when the page is busy. Tempo runs from 40 to 208 BPM in 2/4, 3/4, 4/4 or 6/8, with an accented first beat and a tap-tempo button.
• A take is one bar of count-in clicks (two bars in 2/4 and 3/4), then the pattern twice. Hits during the count-in are ignored.
• Clap detection runs in an AudioWorklet on the audio thread. It measures the loudness of each 64-sample slice (about 1.3 ms), keeps a slowly moving noise floor, and reports a clap when the loudness jumps well above both the floor and the previous slice. A short quiet period afterwards stops one clap's echo from counting twice. There is no AI model: just arithmetic on loudness.
• Taps are timed from the key or touch event, mapped onto the same audio clock as the clicks.
• Scoring: each hit is matched to the nearest written note that has not been claimed yet. Within the "on the beat" window it scores. A little outside, it is rushed or dragged. Too far from every note, it landed between beats. A written note with no hit by the time its window closes is missed. 75% of notes on the beat (with extra hits counted against you) passes.
• Windows scale with the rhythm: for quarter notes at a moderate tempo a hit within 60 ms of the beat counts as on the beat. For sixteenth notes the window tightens (about 50 ms at 60 BPM, never below 30 ms), because the notes themselves are closer together.

The hints

• "You rushed that beat": your hit came early. Wait for the click to arrive, then clap with it.
• "You dragged behind the beat": your hit came late. Get ready earlier, and start the clap as the click begins.
• "That hit landed between beats": the hit was not near any written note. Usually it means clapping on an and that is a rest, or an echo of the previous clap. Count the subdivisions out loud.
• "You missed a beat": a written note went by with no hit. Keep counting through the silent beats.

Each hint shows the error in milliseconds. After the take, a summary names your most common mistake.

The levels

• Level 1, quarter notes: one clap per click.
• Level 2, quarters and rests: silent beats you still have to count.
• Level 3, eighth notes: two even claps per click.
• Level 4, waltz and 6/8: feeling three, and two groups of three.
• Level 5, off-beats: clapping on the and, between the clicks.
• Level 6, sixteenth notes: 1 e and a, gallops and reverse gallops.
• Level 7, syncopation: tresillo, Charleston and anticipations.
• Level 8, syncopated sixteenths: funk figures and son clave.

Passing any pattern in a level unlocks the next. Quiz mode picks 5 patterns from a separate set you have never practised, hides the preview and the tip, and scores each one. You can ask for the hint, which plays the pattern.

Latency: why calibrate

Every device adds a little delay between the moment a click is scheduled and the moment you hear it, and between a clap and the moment the microphone delivers it. Bluetooth headphones can add 150 ms or more. If hits you feel are on time keep showing as late, open Settings → Calibrate: clap or tap with eight clicks, and the median offset is subtracted from every future hit. Mic and tap are calibrated separately.

Clapping with speakers: the clicks play only during the count-in, so the microphone does not hear the click as a clap. The beat lights keep pulsing. With headphones, switch on Click through the whole take.

Resources: learn from a real teacher

For real instruction, learn from a qualified music teacher: a private teacher, a school or community music program, or a drum circle. A teacher hears things a timing score cannot: your posture, your sound, and your musical feel.

These links open other websites in a new tab. Rhythm Tutor isn't affiliated with any of them and sends them nothing.

Privacy

• Your audio never leaves your device. The clap detector measures loudness block by block and discards each block. Only the times of your claps are kept, for the current take.
• No accounts, ads, cookies, analytics or trackers. The app loads nothing from other websites, and a security policy blocks connections anywhere else.
• Stored on your device only: patterns passed, points, badges, practice days, settings and calibration, in your browser's local storage. Delete it with Offline proof → Delete all my data, Settings → Clear progress, or your browser's site settings.
• The microphone is only on on a practice screen in Clap mode. Tap mode never uses it.
• Hosting: like any website, the server that delivers the app's files may keep standard technical logs of those downloads. The app itself sends nothing. Full privacy page

Disclaimer

• This is a home practice tool, not a teacher, therapist or safety device. Everything runs on your device: no video, audio or images are sent anywhere. Feedback is automatic and can be wrong. For real instruction, learn from a qualified music teacher, linked on the Resources page.
• Clap detection can miss soft claps, count loud room noises or echoes, and be thrown by device latency. Timing scores are a practice aid, not a measure of musicianship.
• Keep the volume comfortable, especially with headphones.
• The app is provided “as is”, without warranty of any kind.

Accessibility

• Everything works with a keyboard: the spacebar or Enter is the tap during a take. Each hint is announced to screen readers, and the pattern is also written as a counting line (for example 1 & 2 3 4).
• Beat lights pulse with every click, so the tempo can be followed visually. Animations follow your device's "reduce motion" setting, and chimes and confetti can be turned off in Settings.

Credits

• Metronome, clap detection, scoring and all patterns: original code and content written for this app (no third-party libraries).
• Tresillo, Charleston and son clave are traditional rhythms, notated here from common practice.
• Built with the on-device coach pattern from the Little Hands and Tone Trainer apps.

Rhythm Tutor version 1.0.0