Tap tempo BPM calculator. Count the beat you hear.

Start this original eight-second recording manually, then tap with its half-second clicks. There are 16 clicks, with a higher tone every fourth click as a counting aid. Reset your count before trying it again. A steady count should approach 120 BPM; a different reading can reflect your counting choice or input timing.

Download the 120 BPM WAV (768,044 bytes) or read the generation, verification and CC0 notes. Start at a comfortable playback volume. The reference checks a known pulse; it is not automatic tempo detection or a benchmark of your device's timing.

Beats per minute converts the time between regular beats into a rate. An interval of 500 milliseconds corresponds to 120 BPM: 60,000 ÷ 500. Four taps provide three intervals, so the estimate begins after the fourth accepted tap.

The main reading uses the median of up to the latest 16 accepted intervals. The average reading divides 60,000 by their mean duration. These can differ when your taps are uneven: intervals of 500, 500, 500 and 1,000 ms have a median-based estimate of 120 BPM and an average-based estimate of 96 BPM. That difference signals a counting or timing choice to review, not a certified confidence score.

Taps less than 100 ms after the last accepted tap are ignored. A gap over four seconds starts a fresh count on the next tap. There is no automatic song analysis, beat-grid alignment or time-signature detection. Your input device, browser timing and the musical pulse you choose affect the estimate.

A groove can make a slow pulse and its subdivisions equally noticeable. Counting every other beat gives half the rate; counting two taps per beat gives twice the rate. A syncopated instrument may also suggest a pattern different from the underlying pulse. The tool cannot decide which interpretation suits your arrangement.

Count the same kind of beat for several bars, then try another section. If the tempo drifts naturally, one BPM will not describe every moment. Preserve the performance when that is your goal; a single speed change does not quantize the recording or remove a tempo map.

Start over after a missed beat or a change of counting convention. The median can reduce the influence of one unusually long interval, but it can also hide that mistake. Compare the two readings and listen rather than treating more decimal places as more certainty.

For an original estimate of 120 BPM and a target of 90 BPM, the nominal speed is 90 ÷ 120 = 0.750×. Enter those values in the BPM-to-speed calculator, prepare a short audio export and check it. The calculation assumes the original estimate is useful for that section; it does not establish the song's true tempo.

To change the notes without intentionally changing tempo, use the pitch changer instead. BPM does not reveal a song's key or a singer's comfortable range. The song-key guide explains semitone direction, register choices and listening checks.

If you need one instrument to follow the rhythm more closely, the drum extractor can attempt a described drum source from your recording. That separate AI workflow requires an account and credits for downloads; separation quality depends on the mix. This tap calculator runs no AI job.