# Tempo, key & metronome > Tempo and key in InnerHook, a lyrics writing app: a song's BPM, time signature and key, tap tempo, and a metronome to write or record with. Canonical: https://innerhook.com/docs/tempo-key/ Last updated: 2026-10-06 Every song can carry a tempo (BPM), a time signature and a key. You set them once in the song brief; InnerHook then shows them beside the title, plays a metronome at that tempo, and uses them when you record an idea, hear the song sung or build a setlist. ## Where to find it Open **Settings** in the side panel (or type `/` and pick **Song brief**). The **Basics** card has **Tempo**, **Time signature** and **Key**. Once a tempo is set, the header shows it beside the title, for example *96 BPM · 4/4*, with the key added when you've chosen one. ## Set the tempo There are three ways to set the BPM, and you can mix them: - **Type it** in the BPM field: a whole number from 40 to 240. Clear the field to remove the tempo. - **Tap it.** Click **Tap** in time with the beat you hear in your head, three times or more. InnerHook takes the average of your last taps (up to 8). Pause for more than 2 seconds and it starts counting again. With the button focused, Space or T taps too. - **Pick a chip.** If the song has a genre, a **Suggested** chip offers that genre's usual tempo, for example **Suggested · Rock 120**. It's only a suggestion and never sets itself. **More tempos** shows the other chips of this list: Ballad 72, Hip-Hop 90, R&B 75, Pop 118, Rock 120, Indie 125, Country 100, Folk 96, Electronic/Dance 128, Metal 140, Punk 170, Slow 70, Mid 100 and Up 128. > **Tip** > > Hum the chorus and tap along on **Tap**. It's usually closer to what the song wants than a number picked from thin air. ## Time signature and key - **Time signature:** pick **4/4**, **3/4** or **6/8**; **More** adds 2/4 and 12/8. - **Key:** choose any of the 24 major and minor keys from the list (C major, C minor, C# major… B minor), or **Not set**. All of these belong to the song, so co-writers see a change at once. Someone who can only read the song sees them but can't change them or play the metronome. ## The metronome 1. Set a tempo (the **Metronome** button stays disabled until there is one). 2. Click **▶ Metronome**. A dot pulses with each click, brighter on the first beat of the bar; with reduced motion turned on, you see the beat's number instead. 3. Click **■ Stop** to stop it. The first beat of every bar sounds higher. In 6/8 and 12/8 each group of three gets a lighter accent, and one BPM is one click, so 6/8 at 120 clicks eighth notes at 120. The metronome never starts by itself, and it stops when you close the song brief, clear the tempo, leave Write mode or leave the song. **In Write mode** the metronome has its own control in the corner (**▶ 96 BPM**), with a quiet pulse at the edge of the page. See [Write mode](https://innerhook.com/docs/write-mode/). > **No sound?** > > Some browsers keep a page silent until you click on it. If that happens you'll see **Sound is blocked by the browser — click again**. The pulse keeps going; your next click or key press starts the sound in time with it. On an iPhone or iPad the click also plays with the silent switch on. ## Where the tempo is used - **Recording an idea.** With a tempo set, the recorder offers **Count in (1 bar at 96 BPM)**, on by default, and **Metronome while recording**, off by default. Use headphones so the click stays out of the take. See [Your recordings](https://innerhook.com/docs/recordings/). - **Hear it sung.** The style is filled in from the brief: tempo, time signature and key (when set). You can change them for one take without changing the song. Hear it sung uses AI (Eleven Music) and costs credits; see [Hear it sung](https://innerhook.com/docs/hear-it-sung/). - **Setlists.** A setlist shows each song's BPM and key, and the time signature when it isn't 4/4. A song with no sung take gets an estimated length from its lines and tempo, shown with ≈. See [Setlists](https://innerhook.com/docs/setlists/). ## Limits > **Limits** > > - Tempo: whole numbers from 40 to 240 BPM. Anything else shows "A tempo is a whole number from 40 to 240 BPM." > - Time signatures: 4/4, 3/4, 6/8, 2/4 and 12/8. > - One tempo, time signature and key per song; there are no tempo changes within a song.