Guide · Pendl
Odd meters and polyrhythms, one click at a time
Most metronomes assume 4/4. Music does not. This is how to count the meters that trip people up, and how to set a click so it carries the accent pattern for you.
Counting 5/4 and 7/8
An odd meter is only awkward until you group it. 5/4 is almost always 3+2 or 2+3; 7/8 is 2+2+3, 3+2+2 or 2+3+2. Say the groups out loud — ONE two three ONE two — and the bar stops feeling long.
Set the click to the same grouping. In Pendl, choose the time signature, then tap the beats you want stressed: a downbeat on one, an accent at the start of each group, normal beats between. The pattern loops, so you hear the grouping instead of counting it.
Feeling 3-over-4
A polyrhythm is two pulses sharing a bar. In 3-over-4 one voice plays three even notes while another plays four, and they meet only on beat one. The trick is to hear the composite — the rhythm both voices make together — rather than to count two things at once.
Pendl layers independent pulses in their own colours, so you can bring the second voice in quietly and then balance them. Start slow: a polyrhythm that is clean at 60 stays clean at 120, and one that is fudged at 120 was never clean. Polyrhythms are part of Pendl Pro, a one-time purchase.
Subdivisions, swing and the count-in
If a passage rushes, subdivide: fill the beat with eighths or sixteenths so the space between clicks is audible. If it drags on a shuffle, dial in swing rather than guessing — Pendl’s swing runs from straight to a hard shuffle.
Use a one- or two-bar count-in before the take, and tap the tempo in rather than typing it when you are matching a recording. Every beat also arrives as a downbeat-aware haptic, so you can put the phone face down and still feel one.
Questions
- What is the difference between 6/8 and 3/4?
- Both have six eighth notes in a bar. 6/8 groups them as two pulses of three — a lilt, like a jig; 3/4 groups them as three pulses of two — a waltz. Set the accents to match and the same tempo feels completely different.
- How slow should I practise a polyrhythm?
- Slow enough that both voices land cleanly on beat one every bar — often 50–60 BPM at first. Raise the tempo only once it has been clean for a full minute.
- Does Pendl need a microphone or an account?
- No. The click is generated on your device, offline, with no sign-up and no tracking. Pendl is free; Pendl Pro is a one-time purchase that adds polyrhythms, swing, every click sound, and the gap and tempo trainers.
Metronome
Keep time. In colour.
A serious, no-nonsense metronome with a sample-accurate click and a colour-coded beat ring. Odd meters, accents, subdivisions, swing and polyrhythm — nothing in your way.