Measuring tempo in beats per minute
Beats per minute (BPM) measures musical tempo. Tap the pad, click it, or press a key on each beat. The tempo appears after the second tap. Keep tapping steadily to improve the estimate.
How the tapper calculates BPM
Simply averaging the gap between taps is easily thrown off by one early or late tap. This tool fits a straight line through the times of up to your last 32 taps and uses its slope as the beat length. The BPM is 60,000 divided by the beat length in milliseconds. The stability meter compares your recent taps with each other: when they are within about 3% of each other, the reading is steady.
If you stop tapping for about two seconds, the current reading stays on screen and your next tap starts a fresh measurement. Press Esc or the reset button to clear everything.
Half time and double time
It is easy to tap every other beat, or to tap eighth notes instead of quarter notes. If a hip-hop track reads 180 BPM but feels like 90, use the ½× button. If a drum and bass track reads 87, use 2× to get 174.
Tempo markings
Classical scores use Italian terms rather than numbers. The ranges vary between sources and metronome makers, but the rough values are:
| Marking | Approx. BPM | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Larghissimo | below 24 | extremely slow |
| Grave | 24–40 | very slow, solemn |
| Largo | 40–60 | broad, slow |
| Larghetto | 60–66 | fairly slow |
| Adagio | 66–76 | slow, at ease |
| Andante | 76–108 | walking pace |
| Moderato | 108–120 | moderate |
| Allegro | 120–156 | fast, bright |
| Vivace | 156–176 | lively, fast |
| Presto | 176–200 | very fast |
| Prestissimo | 200+ | extremely fast |
Typical tempos by genre
- Hip-hop: 85–100 BPM
- Pop: 100–130 BPM
- House: 120–130 BPM
- Techno: 125–150 BPM
- Drum and bass: 160–180 BPM
