I did want to say that other than figuring out this quirk, I love Justin’s metronome app. I have a Korg metronome, but I’ve never cared for the harsh (in my opinion) tones of the beeps/clicks. I also like the visual feedback of the rhythm and the accent beats available with more complicated time signatures (like 6:8). For the price (US $1.99 in my case), it can’t be beat (pun unintended).
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I rewatched this video again. It is obvious that Justin was using the Metronome app when he assigned a tempo of 130 bpm. I finally realized that the key to understanding this was the 6 beats per measure and that the metronome was playing straight 6 beats to the measure with no accents on the first and fourth beats. The only way to set that up on the metronome app is to ignore the time signature and set up the rhythm with 6 beats and no divisions (value of 1). That works at the 130 bpm setting but doesn’t work as will as using the 6/8 time signature (2:3 setup) with 44 bpm, since that’s also gives you the 2 accent beats.
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Had the same issue with the metronome app the day before yesterday, didn’t solve the problem yet, no time for fumbling around. I then used the click version of Hallelujah in the song app. It provides a 6/8 signature with accentuated beats, wereby the speed is only up to 114 bpm for this song, not 130bpm.
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Thanks for the response. I don’t know if anyone else has experienced the same issue with the metronome app and 6:8 time or just got frustrated and moved on.
I did find a workaround with setting the tempo at 1/3 the desired speed and the beats are at the right speed.
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Response to another post maybe worth a read
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I wrote a reply to a question on the 6/8 tempo and a metronome setting for Everybody Hurts here.
Using easy numbers, if a tempo is given as 120bpm that is usually taken to mean that this is the tempo for quarter beats, that there are 120 quarter beats per minute.
6/8 time signature music is based on eighths, not quarters.
120bpm gives the equivalent of 240 eighths per minute.
That 240 figure can be divided by 3 to give a metronome setting for 6/8 of 80bpm.
BUT, it is vital to know that the beats in this 80bpm are not quarters or eighths.
They are dotted quarters - equivalent to three eighths. This gives the two strong pulses which you find on the 1 and the 4 of 6/8 time signature music.
Another way to arrive at the same is to find two-thirds of the 120bpm.
I hope that helps.
Cheers 
| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Moderator, Guide & Approved Teacher
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Thanks to you and James for the response. It sounds like my workaround is not a workaround but is the reality for this time signature. When Justin said set your metronome to 130 he was speaking in general for the tempo for 6 eighth notes to each measure but leaving the details of setting up the metronome to us.
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@Richard_close2u @Socio Thanks Richard and James, this makes things a lot clearer. I have to admit, that I didn’t spend time to think about it yet, because life is so busy at the moment, practice time is a little short. One gets a little lazy with those wonderful apps 
. I just saw the option for the 6/8 count, so I thought, the 6/8 signature would be adapted automatically to the given speed of the song. So, it seems to be true, that math and music theory relate. Should have paid more attention to things like that in school. Musical education for my generation in school was very theoretical and boooooring…
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Hi Andrea I expect a lot of people would think the same thing. I’m surprised that this question only seems to have cropped up recently. @Richard_close2u gave a very clear and concise answer and maybe merits a guidance note added to the learn more section for entering 6:8 signatures onto the Justin Time Trainer.
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RE: the metronome / time trainer app
Notice that in the video for this lesson, Justin says do not do it in the same way that Nitsuj did it (see 10:14 in this Nitsuj video.
You do not want to hear the different sounding beep every fourth beat as that is for 4/4 time.
I do not have the time trainer app and do not know if the different sound can be turned on / off / adjusted.
If not, then use a metronome sound with just a single sound or one that you can set to sound differently on 1 and 4 of a 6/8 time signature.
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@Richard_close2u I have three questions for this section:
-
When we count 4/4, we put emphasis on beat one as “one! two three four, one! two three four, …”
> 1 2 3 4So for a 3/4 time signature, if we don’t add the “ands”, do we count the beats by putting emphasis on all the beats as “one! two! three!, one! two! three!, …”?
> > > 1 2 3 -
Here when Justin talks about the “walts” is he referring to 3/4? He only seems to accentuate beat 1 as:
> 1 2 3 -
I tried setting 6/8 @ 130BPM on the Timerainer App. Here’s a video demo of me using the app. Is this correct, it seems pretty fast to strum along to.
Thank you!
Is The Only Exception by Paramore a 6/8 song? just wanted some clarification as my ears can be wrong because it seems to me that the song is in 6/8 time.
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Had a listen, it feels more like 3/4 to me. (With a strum pattern D DUDU).
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Yeah, does anyone know where to put the accents in waltz time?
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Not only that.
If you think rock ‘n’ roll with the backbeat rhythm the emphasis is on 2 and 4.
Funk music makes a big play of accenting the 1.
It varies.
The crucial part of an answer to your question is that you must always know where the 1 is, when it is coming, never losing track of it.
No, only the 1 gets emphasis in 3/4 waltz time.
```
>
1 2 3
```
6/8 on a metronome can cause confusion.
In 6/8 there are two main pulses, on beats 1 and 4.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Each of these six beats is an eighth.
two eighths = a quarter
three eighths = a dotted quarter = one and a half quarters
A dot against a note / beat extends its duration by half again.
If the tempo is set at 130bpm, you need to know if this is the bpm for quarter notes.
That would equate to a tempo of 260 bpm if considering eighths.
Divide that by three to get the tempo for the dotted quarter (approximately 87 bpm).
Try the metronome at that setting.
I hope that helps.
Cheers
| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Moderator, Guide & Approved Teacher
Thank you!
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Actually using 87 BPM for 6/8 in the Timetrainer app will be twice as fast as what Justin is showing in the video. Justin is using (it seems) the metronome available on the website (https://www.justinguitar.com/metronome). That simply gives 130 ‘clicks’ per minute, and one is supposed to strum on each click (for the purpose of a simple exercise for the 6/8 strumming). Using 87 BPM in the Timetrainer app will give 261 ‘clicks’ per minute.
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I truly do not understand the difference between 6/8 and 3/4. 6/8 just sounds like two bars of waltz. The emphasis is the same. I suspect the key lies in understanding the second part of the signature, the 4 and the 8. What I gathered from discussion about metronome issues above is the 8 and four are just quarter or eighth notes, so it seems like semantics whether you choose 3/4 or 6/8? Since two bars that have three beats and three quarter beats sounds identical to a bar which has six beats and six eighth beats? There must be some further distinction that only becomes apparent with more complicated musical stuff happening.
Experience of playing songs in those time signatures will help it become real and not abstract. With that experience, listening to songs in those time signatures becomes revealing.
Here are a few videos:
6/8 vs 3/4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsD9M7aIA5E
What’s the difference … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4q2kBe82-o&t
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These were really helpful in clearing up my confusion, thanks Richard. 
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