Tap at least twice. Averages your last 8 taps. Auto-resets after 3 s of inactivity.
How it works
The Tap Tempo tool calculates the BPM (beats per minute) of any music, metronome, or rhythmic pattern by averaging the time intervals between your taps. It is the simplest and most accurate method for quickly identifying the tempo of a song, matching the BPM of a loop to a track, or setting your DAW tempo to match live recorded material.
How it works: each tap records a timestamp using the browser's high-resolution performance.now() timer (sub-millisecond precision). The gaps between consecutive taps are averaged across up to the last 8 taps, producing a progressively more accurate BPM reading as you continue tapping. The display updates after each tap. After 3 seconds without a tap, the session automatically resets.
Using 8-tap averaging instead of 2-tap: a single interval (two taps) has high variance from human reaction time — you might land 20ms early or late, producing a ±1–5 BPM error at typical tempos. Averaging 8 intervals reduces this variance significantly and produces a stable reading within 4–5 taps.
Subdivision display: once a BPM is detected, the tool shows the equivalent BPM for common time-signature subdivisions — half notes (BPM ÷ 2), eighth notes (BPM × 2), and triplets (BPM × 1.5). This is useful for: - Setting a delay pedal to quarter, eighth, or dotted-eighth note values - Confirming that a loop is on the beat or the half-beat - Finding the BPM of a track that was recorded in a compound meter
Typical tempos by genre: ballads 60–80 BPM, pop 100–130 BPM, hip-hop 80–100 BPM, house 120–130 BPM, drum and bass 160–180 BPM, techno 130–145 BPM.
Privacy: tap timestamps are processed in memory only and are never stored or transmitted.
Frequently Asked Questions
- The reading stabilizes after 4–5 taps and becomes highly accurate by 7–8 taps. Two taps give a rough estimate (±3–5 BPM typical error from human timing variance). Four taps reduce the error to ±1–2 BPM. Eight taps (the maximum used in averaging) produce results within ±0.5 BPM for most tempos. For the most accurate reading, tap along for several bars before reading the display.
- The tap session auto-resets after 3 seconds of inactivity. This is intentional: if you stop tapping mid-song, the accumulated average represents an incomplete sample. When you start tapping again on a new song or after a break, the fresh calculation starts from zero rather than blending new taps with stale old ones. To prevent accidental reset, continue tapping until you have a stable reading.
- You can click the button with the mouse or touchscreen, but keyboard shortcut support is not currently implemented. For high-accuracy tapping, a mouse click is generally more consistent than keyboard key repeat detection. Some musicians prefer using a dedicated hardware tap tempo button for even lower latency.
- If your track is at 120 BPM, the subdivisions tell you: half note = 60 BPM (the tempo at which a half note lasts one beat of your track), eighth note = 240 BPM, triplet = 180 BPM. These are the values you'd enter into a delay pedal or DAW for note-synced effects: a quarter note delay at 120 BPM has a 500ms delay time (60000/120 = 500ms). Eighth note delay: 250ms. Triplet delay: 333ms.