BPM counter
Tap tempo
Play the song, then tap the drum on every beat. The tempo appears from the second tap and settles as you keep going.
Click or touch the drum, or press Space, Enter or T in time with the music. R or Esc starts over.
- Average
- –BPM
- Steadiness
- –tap 4 or more times
- Half time
- –BPM
- Double time
- –BPM
- Beat length
- –ms per beat
- Last gap
- –ms
- Spread
- –ms, standard deviation
- Taps
- 0none ignored
Getting a reliable BPM
Start the music first and listen for a bar or two before you tap, so you lock on to the pulse rather than chase it. Tap on the beat you would clap or nod to: in most pop and rock that is the kick and snare pattern, not the busy hi-hat. Eight to sixteen taps usually give a steady figure.
The average is worked out from the gaps between your taps. A gap that is far from the others, such as a missed tap that doubles the gap, is left out and drawn as a hollow dot. Steadiness compares the spread of your gaps with their length: above about 97% your taps were very even, and below about 93% the tempo may drift or you may be tapping a mix of beats and off-beats.
Songs are often heard at half time or double time: a drum and bass track at 174 BPM feels like 87, and a slow ballad tapped on every eighth note reads twice as fast. Use whichever figure matches how you count the song. Choose the last 8 gaps if the song speeds up or slows down and you want the current tempo rather than the overall one.
Stop tapping for a couple of seconds and the next tap starts a new count. Open in metronome carries the rounded tempo to the metronome so you can practise along.
Questions
How many times should I tap?
Two taps give a first guess, but one early or late tap can move it by several BPM. After eight or more taps the small errors average out and the figure usually stops changing by more than one BPM.
Why is the result not a whole number?
Your taps are timed to a fraction of a millisecond, so the average rarely lands exactly on a whole number. Most recorded music sits on a whole BPM, so the rounded figure is the one to use for a metronome or a DAW project.
Is tapping on a phone accurate?
Yes. Taps are timed when your finger touches the screen, not when it lifts, so the timing matches what you feel. Tap with one finger in a steady rhythm and avoid double taps, which phones can treat as zoom gestures in other apps.