The short answer
If you have the song as a file, drop it on the BPM finder below. It reads the file on your device, looks for the regular pattern of drum hits and note starts, and shows the tempo in a few seconds, together with the half and double value. If you only hear the song, for example on the radio or a streaming app, tap the pad on every beat; after eight taps the counter shows the tempo.
Whichever way you use, check the result by playing the song together with the metronome at that tempo. If the clicks stay with the drums, the number is right.
Try it here: BPM finder from a song
Open the full tool pageWhat BPM means
BPM stands for beats per minute, the number of steady pulses you would tap your foot to in one minute. At 60 BPM there is one beat per second, at 120 BPM two. The beat is usually a quarter note: in most pop and rock songs, the kick drum and the snare drum alternate on the beats, and the hi-hat often plays twice per beat.
Tempo is used to match songs in a DJ set, to set the project tempo in a music program, to choose music for running, cycling or dance classes, and to practise a piece at its real speed with a metronome.
Method 1: analyse the audio file
A BPM finder works in two steps. First it marks the moments where new sound begins, the onsets: drum hits, plucked or struck notes, chord changes. Then it measures which time distance between onsets repeats most regularly throughout the song. That distance is the beat period, and 60 divided by it is the tempo.
The finder on this page considers tempos between 40 and 220 BPM, analyses up to the first ten minutes of a file and runs entirely in your browser; the song is not uploaded. It works best on music with a steady beat such as pop, rock, hip hop, house or techno. Live recordings that speed up, classical music played freely, ambient music or spoken word can give a rough or misleading result, and the tool tells you when the beat is not very regular.
Method 2: tap tempo
Tap tempo is the most reliable method for any song you can hear, because you decide where the beat is. Tap the pad, or press T, on every beat. The counter averages the time between your last eight taps, so small slips cancel out, and shows whether your tapping is steady. A pause of more than two seconds starts a new count.
Listen to the drums rather than the vocals: singers often phrase around the beat, while the kick and snare mark it exactly. Use this tempo sends the result to the metronome.
Method 3: count with a clock
With no tool at all, count the beats for 15 seconds and multiply by four, or count for 30 seconds and multiply by two. Start counting at zero on the first beat. This is accurate to about four BPM, which is enough to choose music for a workout, but not to sync two tracks.
Half time and double time
People often disagree about whether a song is 70 or 140 BPM, or 87 or 174 BPM in drum and bass. Both numbers describe the same music: one counts the main pulse, the other twice as many beats. Automatic finders face the same choice, which is why the result shows the half and double values too.
To decide, ask what most listeners would clap to, and look at the genre: hip hop is usually counted between 80 and 100 BPM, house around 120 to 128, drum and bass at about 170 to 175. Then tap along to confirm.
| Genre | Typical BPM |
|---|---|
| Ballad, slow R&B | 60 to 80 |
| Hip hop | 80 to 100 |
| Pop, rock | 100 to 130 |
| House | 120 to 128 |
| Techno | 125 to 140 |
| Dubstep | 140 (often felt as 70) |
| Drum and bass | 160 to 180 |
Songs with tempo changes
Many songs recorded without a click track drift by a few BPM between the verse and the chorus, and some change tempo on purpose. A file analysis then returns an average. To find the tempo of one section, tap along to just that part. Songs with a swing feel are counted on the main beats, not on the uneven eighth notes.