Rhythm Blocks
Build a measure you can see, count, and hear. Every block takes up exactly as much time as its note value.
Changing the meter starts a fresh measure. Mixed counting lets you add triplets to individual quarter-note beats without clearing your rhythm.
Choose a duration
Your measure 4/4
An empty measure. Add your first block above this ruler.
Description
A measure is a container for musical time. These blocks make duration physical: a half note is twice as wide as a quarter note, and a sixteenth note is one quarter as wide. Fill the frame exactly, then listen to the rhythm you built.
Instructions
- Add: click a note value to place it in the first space that fits. You can also drag it to a particular subdivision. Switch to Rests to add silence of the same duration.
- Edit: click any placed block to remove it. Undo reverses your last addition, removal, or clear. Blocks cannot overlap or extend past the barline.
- Count: use sixteenths for “1 e & a,” eighths for “1 &,” or triplets for three equal divisions of each quarter-note beat. Choose Mixed to combine both: adding an eighth triplet changes only its quarter-note beat to “la li” counting. Other beats keep their straight subdivisions. Existing blocks stay in place; incompatible placements are prevented. A triplet note or rest always occupies one third of a quarter note.
- Explore meters: 6/8, 9/8, and 12/8 group eighth notes in threes, counted “1 la li, 2 la li…”; 7/8 uses a 2 + 2 + 3 grouping. Choose Subdivided compound to count six equal parts per dotted-quarter beat: “1 ta la ta li ta, 2 ta la ta li ta…” Each syllable is one sixteenth note. This grid is selected when you enter a compound meter; choose Compound beats for the coarser “1 la li” count. Triplet and Mixed modes are available in quarter-note meters. Mixed mode combines simple and compound subdivisions locally while the time signature stays the same.
- Listen: Enable Loop measure to repeat until you press Stop; otherwise Play sounds one measure; filled notes sound at their beginnings and rests stay silent. Optional beat clicks mark the grouped beats. The tempo always measures quarter notes per minute, including in compound meters. Unfilled space plays as silence.
On a small screen, swipe the measure sideways to see the full ruler. All adding and removing actions also work with a keyboard by tabbing to a button and pressing Enter.