Mondo Knows Facts
The metronome was patented in 1815
Johann Maelzel's device standardised tempos in beats per minute Earlier pendulum devices existed, and Beethoven was involved in the development of an earlier model. Scores began printing metronome marks instead of vague Italian words. Digital metronomes later made the same number exact. It sits in Mondo's music collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.
Where this comes from
Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.
Go further
More facts like this
The five line staff is a medieval inventionGuido d'Arezzo's teaching methods led to the notation still in useThe classical symphony settled on four movementsFast, slow, dance, then a lively finale became the templateA harpsichord plucks strings instead of striking themQuills catch the string, and volume stays fixed regardless of touchA bagpipe keeps playing with a bag of airThe bag lets the player breathe without the sound stoppingThe saxophone was patented in 1846Adolphe Sax wanted a brass instrument to blend with woodwindWax cylinders lost the first format warEdison backed cylinders while rivals pushed discs that could be stamped
🎵 Musicfact 51 of 200
← → to keep reading, or swipe
Tags: tempo, history, tools
The metronome was patented in 1815: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Johann Maelzel's device standardised tempos in beats per minute. The figure is taken from Britannica, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a music fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Music shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.