How many taps do I need?

Four taps give a rough number, and eight to sixteen give a solid one. The reading averages your recent taps, so small timing slips even out.

Stop tapping for two seconds and the next tap starts a fresh count. You can also press Escape or the reset button.

Should I tap on every beat or every other beat?

Tap where you'd nod your head or tap your foot. If the result seems too slow or too fast for the style, halve or double it: a lot of hip-hop sits around 85 to 95 BPM but can be felt at 170 to 190, and drum and bass the other way round.

Can it find the BPM from an audio file instead?

Yes, use the BPM detector. It analyses a file you drop in and finds the tempo automatically.

Why do different sites give different BPMs for the same song?

Often one says 70 and another 140: that's the half and double question again. Live recordings and older songs also drift, so the tempo at the start and end can differ by a few BPM.

BPM Finder

Play a song, tap along with the beat, and see its tempo in beats per minute. Tap the pad or press any key on your keyboard.

Exact: –
Taps: 0
Beat length: –

Stop for 2 seconds to start over. Esc resets.

How it works

1Start the song in another tab, app or speaker.
2Tap the pad, or press any key, on every beat.
3Read the BPM once the number settles, then pause to reset.

How tap tempo works

Each tap records the moment you pressed. The BPM finder takes up to your last 16 taps, measures the time from the first of them to the last, divides by the number of gaps, and turns that average interval into beats per minute. Averaging over the whole run makes it much steadier than measuring between two taps, because a single early or late tap barely moves the result.

Getting an accurate reading

Listen for the kick drum or the snare backbeat, which are the easiest parts to follow. Tap for at least eight beats and watch the number: when it stops changing by more than one, you have the tempo. Keyboard taps are a little more precise than mouse clicks or touchscreen taps, so the space bar is a good choice on a computer.

Common BPM ranges by genre

As a rough guide: ballads 60 to 80, hip-hop 85 to 100, pop and R&B 100 to 130, house 120 to 128, techno 125 to 140, dubstep around 140, drum and bass 160 to 180. If your number is far outside the range for the style, it's probably half or double the tempo a DJ would use.

What to do with the tempo

DJs match BPMs to mix tracks, runners pick songs that match their cadence, and musicians set a metronome to practise along. Once you have the number, open the metronome and set it there, or slow the song down with our speed changer to learn a part.