Backbeat

About

Practice tools for musicians in your browser's side panel. Metronome, tuner, chords, scales, harmony and drums in one place.

Backbeat puts a complete practice toolkit right next to your tabs. Open it in the side panel and it stays there while you watch a lesson, read sheet music or look up a song, so you never have to switch windows to check a chord or start the click.

The metronome runs on the browser's audio clock, so it never drifts, even with the window minimized. Set the time signature and subdivision, tap in your tempo or type it directly. When you want more, there are practice tools built in: a count-in, a speed trainer that raises the tempo every few bars, and a gap trainer that goes silent for a bar or two to test how well you hold time on your own.

The tuner plays warm plucked string reference tones for guitar, bass, ukulele, violin and cello. Tap a string, tune by ear, tap again to stop. Concert pitch is selectable (432, 440 or 442 Hz) and no microphone is needed, so the extension asks for no access to anything.

The chords tab shows 15 chord types on any root, drawn as a real guitar shape or on piano keys. Press play to hear exactly what the diagram shows, strummed on guitar or rolled on piano. The scales tab does the same for 20 scales with guitar tablature, played at your practice tempo, with a root drone for improvising.

If you play with a second guitarist, the harmony tab shows which notes work over any chord, finds the key from a typed progression and lays out the classic harmony lines in 3rds and 6ths. And when you would rather practice to a groove than a click, the drum machine gives you a 16 step sequencer with six ready-made patterns and a swing control, locked to the same tempo as the metronome.

Everything runs and stays on your device. Every sound is synthesized live in the browser, so there is nothing to download, no account to make and no tracking of any kind. Backbeat is free, forever.