Met’ronome

(Fr. métronome; Ger. Metronom’; It. metro’nomo,) A double pendulum, weighted below, actuated by clockwork, and provided with a graduated scale on which a slider can be moved up and down, the slider determining by its height how many beats the pendulum shall make per minute; often with a bell-attachment (Bel/metronome). With the slider set at 60 the pendulum makes one beat per second... Metronome-mark (metronom’ic mark), a mark set at the head of a composition for exactly indicating its tempo; e.g, M.M. j 60 means, that the time-value of ‘one quarter-note is equal to one pendulum-beat with the slider set at 60; M. M., standing for ‘* Maelzel’s Metronome” after its reputed inventor, Maelze! of Vienna (1816).—The M. is much used by beginners and students, for learning to play strictly in time, and for timing their practice.