Rhythmic auditory stimulation (RAS) is a promising intervention for gait-disordered populations that involves synchronizing footsteps to regular auditory cues. Previous research has shown that high-groove music elicits improved gait relative to low-groove music, but how this effect occurs is unclear. It is possible that the greater beat clarity (i.e. beat salience) associated with high-groove music may improve gait because more salient beats are easier to synchronize with. In the current study, we explicitly manipulated beat salience by overlaying metronome tones on high- and low-groove music clips. We expected that low-groove music with metronome embedded would show similar gait improvements as high-groove music, specifically that stride length and velocity would increase and balance would not be compromised. Preliminary analyses on a healthy adult population indicate that, although the positive effects of high-groove music on gait were replicated, embedding metronome tones did not significantly increase stride length or velocity relative to non-embedded versions. This result suggests that beat salience may not be primarily responsible for gait improvements from high-groove stimuli. Future studies can characterize this response in clinical populations, as well as investigate other mechanisms responsible for gait improvement in high-groove music in order to improve future RAS outcomes.