Musician's Phrasebook
Click Track
A metronome fed through headphones to keep a band locked to a fixed tempo, often in the studio or on in-ear monitors live.
Why it matters
Playing to a click is a different skill than playing to feel — it takes practice to sound natural against a fixed grid.
Used in a sentence
“We're tracking to a click at 96 bpm.”
Digging deeper
It's a metronome piped through headphones or in-ears so the band locks to a fixed tempo — common in the studio and on bigger live productions using in-ear monitors.
Common questions
Does everyone in the band hear the click?
Usually just whoever needs the timing reference most (often the drummer), though it can be sent to the whole band.
Why is playing to a click harder than it sounds?
A click never breathes or reacts to the room — playing “to feel” naturally speeds up and slows down slightly, so locking to a rigid grid takes real practice.
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