Tap tempo
Tap the big button on every beat of a song. After two taps you get the tempo in beats per minute, shown with one decimal, along with the number of milliseconds per beat. The table below it lists the length in milliseconds of whole to thirty-second notes, in straight, dotted and triplet versions, which is what you need to set a delay or reverb pre-delay.
Runs in your browser: nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
How to use it
- Listen to the song and tap the Tap button on every beat. Use a button press, a click or the Enter key.
- Read the BPM and the milliseconds per beat. Keep tapping for a steadier number.
- If the song changes tempo or you tap badly, press Start over, or just wait three seconds and tap again.
- You can also type or nudge a BPM yourself with the minus and plus buttons to read off the note lengths.
How it works
Taps are timed with the browser’s high-resolution clock. The tempo is 60,000 divided by the mean gap between consecutive taps of the current run. A run ends when you pause for more than 3 seconds, and only its last 16 taps are used, so the figure follows a drifting tempo.
Note lengths use the quarter note as the beat: a whole note is four beats, a half note two, an eighth half a beat. A dotted note is 1.5 times longer, and a triplet note is two thirds as long.
Worked example
You tap at 0, 500, 1,000 and 1,500 ms. The gaps are all 500 ms, so the tempo is 60,000 ÷ 500 = 120 BPM. A quarter note lasts 500 ms, a dotted quarter 750 ms and a quarter-note triplet 333.3 ms.
Tips
- Delay times set to a dotted eighth are a classic choice for guitar and synth echoes.
- Many songs have a half-time or double-time feel, so if the number is twice or half what you expected, tap at the other pulse.
Frequently asked questions
How does tap tempo work out the BPM?
It measures the time between your taps and takes the average gap in milliseconds. BPM is 60,000 divided by that gap, so taps 500 ms apart give 120 BPM. The more taps you give, the more the average smooths out small timing errors, up to the last 16.
How many taps do I need?
Four to eight steady taps are usually enough to settle within a BPM or so. Two taps give a result immediately but it is only as accurate as that one gap.
How do I convert BPM to a delay time?
One beat, a quarter note, lasts 60,000 ÷ BPM milliseconds. An eighth note is half that, a dotted eighth is one and a half times an eighth, and a triplet is two thirds of the straight note. At 120 BPM a quarter note is 500 ms, a dotted eighth is 375 ms and an eighth triplet is 166.7 ms.
What is the difference between this and the metronome?
This tool measures a tempo you hear and gives you timing values, but it makes no sound. The metronome plays clicks at a tempo you set. Use tap tempo to find the number, and the metronome to practise with it.
Why does my result keep changing by a fraction of a BPM?
No one taps perfectly evenly, and live drummers drift too. The tempo is a running average, so it settles as you tap. Set the exact value in the tempo box when the song's tempo is known.