A few years ago, when I started getting serious about jazz again, I had a problem.
I could keep time, sure — but in jazz, time lives inside form. The 32-bar standard, the 12-bar blues, the head-solo-head… you need to know where you are in the form without guessing.
So I did what any obsessive drummer with a DAW would do: I programmed practice tracks in Ableton.
I’d build 32-bar and 12-bar loops, mark the downbeats, and run them until the form felt second nature. Then I’d make new ones. Then remake the old ones. Again and again. It worked — but it was clunky. Every time I wanted to change a time signature or a phrase length, I was back in the DAW, reprogramming from scratch.
From DAW to Browser
Fast forward to recently — I’d been spending more time coding again, building things for the web. One day it hit me: Why not build the form-tracking tool I always wanted — right in the browser?
A few late nights later, I had it: a metronome that could:
- Handle any time signature or phrase length.
- Display your practice in full visual form — not just a flashing dot.
- Accent beats exactly the way you want — downbeats, twos and fours, special first measures.
And the best part? It does things my old Ableton tracks never could. I can reconfigure a practice session instantly, without rebuilding anything. It’s portable, flexible, and made for real musicians who practice in context.
Why It Matters
If you’re a drummer, bassist, pianist — anyone who plays music with structure — FORM + TIME gives you a way to:
- Hear the click
- See the form
- Feel where you are in the bigger arc of the song
It’s not just about keeping time. It’s about playing the music you hear, with good time and good form.
Ready to practice differently?
Try it free at formandtime.com. Build your form. Lock in your time. Play the music you actually want to play.