Metronome Setlist: Change Tempo Between Sections

To change tempo between sections in Metronome Plus: BPM Counter, open Presets, choose Setlists, and create a PRO chain with a BPM, time signature, and bar count for each section. The app advances at bar boundaries. For example, play a four-bar Intro at 80 BPM, then an eight-bar Verse at 96 BPM. Setlists require the optional PRO subscription.

Map the sections before adding steps

Write down the order, tempo, and length of each section you want to rehearse. Use the example table as a practice arrangement, then replace its values with your own. Here, the Intro occupies bars 1–4, the Verse bars 5–12, and the Chorus bars 13–20. Enter each section’s own length in Bars: the Verse needs 8, not its ending bar number of 12. Start with one short passage whose form is settled. A chain follows the lengths you enter, so an extra bar in your playing will put the next section out of sync.

Create a setlist from Presets

Tap Presets in the bottom navigation, then Setlists. With PRO active, tap the plus button beside Your Setlists, enter a short name such as Section Practice, and tap Save. The new setlist opens with no steps. If the PRO offer appears instead, setlists are a paid feature; check the subscription terms shown in the app before choosing a plan. Creating the setlist name alone does not create any music sections. You still need to add at least one step before Play setlist can start a run.

Save the Intro at 80 BPM for four bars

Tap Add step. In Name, enter Intro; set BPM to 80 and Bars to 4; select 4/4 under Time Signature, then tap Save. Check the saved row for all three values before continuing. The step editor accepts whole-number tempos from 40 to 220 BPM and bar counts from 1 to 999. A new step starts with the metronome’s BPM and time signature, while Bars defaults to 8, so enter the Intro’s four bars explicitly. Giving the step a recognizable name makes it easier to follow during playback.

Add the Verse and Chorus in order

Tap Add step again and save Verse with 96 BPM, 8 bars, and 4/4. Add Chorus with 112 BPM, 8 bars, and 4/4. Your list should now contain three numbered rows in that order. New steps appear at the bottom; use the up and down arrows beside a row if the order needs correcting. Check each row rather than assuming a new step copies the preceding one. These are separate section settings, so the chain can move to a faster or slower tempo without requiring the same size change each time.

Start from silence and check the first transition

If the metronome is already clicking, tap Home and stop it with the large center playback button before starting this check. Return through Presets and Setlists, open your chain, and tap Play setlist. The first step begins without a separate count-in. The active row is highlighted, and the display shows the step number, name, and bars left. Count four full Intro bars: the Verse should begin at the next bar boundary at 96 BPM. Listen through the transition without playing first, then rehearse it with your instrument once the change matches your arrangement.

Stop the click before restarting

The Stop button inside Setlists currently ends the automatic chain but leaves the metronome clicking at the last applied tempo. To stop both the sound and the chain, tap Home and press the large center playback button while it shows the pause symbol. If you already tapped Stop in Setlists, use that same Home button to silence the remaining click. Reopen the setlist and tap Play setlist to begin again from its first step; there is no resume-from-here control. If you let the entire chain finish normally, the app stops the metronome automatically.

Edit a section, then start a new run

Stop playback before changing the arrangement. Tap the three-dot button beside a step to edit its name, BPM, Bars, or Time Signature, then tap Save. Delete is available in that editor if the section is no longer needed. Use the arrows beside each row to move a section earlier or later, and Rename above the list to change the setlist’s name. Changes made during playback do not alter the chain already running; start a new run to hear them. Keep names short on a narrow screen, where long names can push the row controls out of view.

Add a count-in or repeated section as another step

For a count-in, add a step named Count-in with 80 BPM, 1 bar, and 4/4, then move it above Intro. Count those four clicks before entering; the Intro still gets its own four bars. For a return to the Verse after the Chorus, add another step with the Verse settings and place it after Chorus. The app does not automatically interpret section names as repeat instructions, and it has no setlist loop switch. For a Verse–Chorus–Verse–Chorus arrangement, enter four steps in that order. Keep the opening count-in only at the beginning unless you deliberately want another one.

Know which settings belong to each step

Each step stores its name, BPM, bar count, and time signature. The available signatures are 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, 3/8, 6/8, and 7/8. Sound, volume, subdivision, and polyrhythm are not stored separately for each section, so choose those settings before starting. Applying a step accents its first beat rather than recalling a custom accent pattern for that section. Starting a setlist also turns Practice Mode off, allowing the section chain to control tempo. Check the full arrangement once before relying on it for a rehearsal.