How to loop part of a song to practise it
To loop part of a song, set a start point (A) and an end point (B) and the player repeats that span until you stop it. For practice, the loop should start and end on bar lines and stay in time with the click, so the repeat sounds like the band playing the part again rather than a jump. Loop the smallest piece you can't play yet, then widen it.
Why loop on bar lines
A loop that starts half a beat late feels like a stumble every time it comes round, and you start learning the stumble. Looping whole bars keeps the groove: the last beat of B leads straight into the first beat of A.
How long should the loop be?
- One or two bars for a fill, a riff or a tricky change.
- One section (8 bars) to learn a part.
- Two sections — say pre-chorus into chorus — to practise the transition, which is where most mistakes happen.
A loop practice routine
- Loop the hard bars at a slower speed.
- When it's clean three times, return to 1x.
- Widen the loop by a bar on each side so you practise getting in and out.
- Turn the loop off and play from the section before.
Loop in Metronome Map 2
Loops in Metronome Map 2 are always whole bars and run on the same clock as the click and the audio.
- A-B loop: while the song is playing, tap the loop button on the player bar — this marks A at the start of the current bar and playback carries on.
- Tap it again when you reach the end of the part: it loops from A to the end of the current bar straight away.
- Tap a third time to turn the loop off.
- Section loop: long-press a section on the sections card and drag across the sections you want to loop.
- Combine with the speed button to loop slowly.
Questions
Does the loop stay in time with the metronome?
Yes. The loop, the click and the audio are scheduled on the same audio clock, so the repeat lands on the beat every time.
Can I loop across two sections?
Yes. Drag across several sections, or use the A-B loop, which ignores section boundaries.
Do I get a count-in when the loop starts?
When you start a section loop you get the section count-in you've chosen. Inside the loop it repeats seamlessly, without counting in each time.
Can I loop a YouTube video?
Loops are built for songs with audio files and for the click; for YouTube songs, practise sections by tapping them on the sections card.
Try it in Metronome Map 2
The metronome that follows your song: song map, cues and count-ins, AI beat grid and stems, notes that zoom and set lists. Free on Android; iPhone and iPad beta on TestFlight.
