How to Find a Song's BPM
- Play the song and tap the pad on each beat, or press Space or T. Tap where you would clap or tap your foot, often with the kick and snare.
- Keep going for 8 taps or more. The tempo is the average of your last 8 taps, and the indicator shows Steady once your taps are within about 3% of each other.
- If the number is twice or half what you expect, you may be tapping every half beat or every other beat. Use ½× or 2× to switch.
- Stop for 2 seconds and the next tap starts a new count. Reset clears everything.
- Tap Open in Metronome to practice at that tempo on the online metronome.
Most songs are between 60 and 180 BPM. Songs recorded without a click track can drift a little, so a reading that moves by 1 or 2 BPM is normal.
Typical BPM by Genre
General ranges. Individual songs vary, and some genres are also counted in half time.
| Genre | Typical BPM |
|---|---|
| Ballads and slow R&B | 60–80 |
| Reggae | 60–90 |
| Hip-hop | 80–100 |
| Pop | 100–130 |
| Rock | 110–140 |
| House | 118–130 |
| Techno | 125–140 |
| Dubstep | About 140, felt as 70 |
| Trap | 130–150, felt as 65–75 |
| Drum and bass | 160–180 |
Half Time and Double Time
The same song can be counted at two tempos. A drummer playing a snare on every other beat makes 140 BPM feel like 70, and a fast shuffle can feel like half its tempo. Neither count is wrong. Musicians usually use the count the music is written in, and DJs the one that matches other tracks in the set.
The word under the tempo is its Italian tempo marking, from Largo (40–59 BPM) to Presto (168–199 BPM). The metronome page has the full table.