BPM Calculator
Tap to find the tempo of any song, or count beats over a measured time.
This tool is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional financial, medical, legal, or engineering advice. See Terms of Service.
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Request a ToolHow to Use the BPM Calculator
This tool measures tempo in two ways. Use whichever fits your situation:
- Tap Tempo. Press the Tap button in rhythm with the beat of any song or track. After four or more taps, the calculator averages your intervals and displays the BPM. It filters out accidental outliers, so a slightly mistimed tap will not throw off your reading. Tapping stops resetting automatically after 3 seconds of inactivity.
- Beat Counter. Start a stopwatch, count the beats aloud for a set number of seconds, then enter both numbers. This method works well for very slow or very fast tempos where tapping is harder to keep precise.
Use Copy to paste the result into your DAW or notes, or Share to send the calculated tempo to a collaborator.
About BPM and Tempo
BPM (beats per minute) measures how fast a piece of music moves. Most popular music falls between 60 BPM (slow ballad) and 180 BPM (fast punk or drum and bass). DJs use BPM to match tracks during mixing. Producers set the project tempo before recording to keep everything locked to the grid. Drummers and conductors use tempo markings that map to BPM ranges: Largo is around 40-60, Andante is 76-108, Allegro is 120-168, and Presto is above 168.
Tap tempo is the fastest way to find a BPM by ear. The algorithm here averages the intervals between your taps and discards values that are too far from the median, giving you a clean reading even if your first few taps are slightly off.
Frequently Asked Questions
How accurate is tap tempo?
Tap tempo accuracy improves with more taps. With 4-8 taps you get a reasonable estimate, usually within 1-2 BPM. With 16 or more taps on a consistent beat, accuracy is typically within 0.5 BPM. The outlier filter here removes taps that are more than 2.5x or less than 0.4x the median interval, which handles accidental double-taps or missed beats.
What BPM is a typical song?
Most commercial pop songs fall between 100 and 130 BPM. Hip-hop often ranges from 80 to 100 BPM. EDM and house typically runs 120 to 140 BPM. Drum and bass is usually 160 to 180 BPM. Slow ballads can be as low as 60 to 80 BPM. There is no fixed rule, and many songs change tempo or use complex rhythms that make a single BPM number an approximation.
How do I find the BPM of a song without tapping?
Use the Count method: play the song, count every beat for 15 seconds, then enter your count and 15 seconds into the Beat Counter section. Multiply by 4 mentally to cross-check. You can also look up songs on BPM databases like Tunebat or SongBPM, or use audio analysis software like Mixed In Key or rekordbox, which detect tempo automatically.
What is half-time and double-time?
Half-time means the groove feels twice as slow as the BPM number implies, typically because the snare falls on beat 3 instead of 2 and 4. A song at 140 BPM in half-time feels like 70 BPM. Double-time is the opposite: subdivisions feel twice as fast as the tempo number. These are rhythmic feels, not actual tempo changes, which is why the same BPM can sound very different depending on how a drummer or producer plays against the grid.