According to an aspect of the embodiment, in a magnetic recording apparatus having a magnetic recording medium of a patterned media system, a voltage generated between both terminals of a magnetic field generating coil in a case that a DC current is supplied to a recording element of a magnetic head is measured by a voltage measuring circuit in order to perform accurate recording at the center of each of magnetic body regions sectioned with non-magnetic body regions. Based on the measured voltage, a change in coil inductance in passage of the magnetic head over a magnetic body region and a non-magnetic body region in a patterned media is detected by a voltage change detecting circuit. A write clock signal which synchronizes with the change in coil inductance is generated by a clock signal generating circuit.