Are you an aspiring DJ? If you want to learn how to seamlessly blend one song into the next, while the crowd goes wild, there’s one crucial element you need to know about: beats per minute, otherwise known as BPM. It’s also an important element in songwriting. With that in mind, here’s everything you need to know, including how to find the BPM of a song.
What is BPM in music?
First things first, what exactly is BPM? BPM stands for ‘beats per minute’ and it’s a way of measuring the speed of a piece of music. A beat is the basic unit of time in music – and most people are able to instinctively tune in to what the beat is. It’s what you tap your foot to when listening to a song.
If a song has a BPM of 60, then, it has exactly one beat per second, while a song with a BPM of 120 has two beats per second. You can see, then, that the higher the number, the faster the song is.
Is tempo the same as BPM?
You might hear the terms ‘BPM’ and ‘tempo’ used interchangeably, but they’re not exactly the same thing. Tempo is a qualitative description of the speed of music, while BPM is a quantitative measurement that precisely defines the number of beats in a minute. In other words, tempo refers to the speed or pace of a song or piece of music, describing how fast or slow the music is, while BPM is the unit of measurement used to express the exact tempo of a song.
When talking about tempo, you might hear terms like “Allegro” (fast), “Andante” (moderate) or “Adagio” (slow) – a long-standing tradition which dates back to when most composers were Italian.
So, while tempo and BPM are closely related, the former is a descriptive term, while the latter is a measure of tempo.
Why is it important to understand BPM?
The mood of a song is often dictated by its BPM – or vice versa. Songs with a slow BPM tend to be more melancholy, while songs with a fast BPM are sure to get everyone up dancing. So if you’re writing a song, it’s important to understand BPM so that your message matches the speed of the song – unless you choose to subvert that, of course.
And if you’re a DJ, you’ll want to play songs of a similar BPM back to back so that they can be mixed more easily – and you need to know which high BPM songs to keep in your back pocket for when you want to fill the dancefloor.
BPM by genre
Pop music varies from slow to upbeat, but typically falls between 100 and 120 BPM. Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep”, for example, is around 105 BPM. Pop ballads are much slower – Harry Styles’ “Sign of the Times” has a BPM of just 60.
The rock genre is wide and varied, but classic rock tends to be similar to pop in terms of speed, with BPM usually falling between 100 and 130. Hard rock is faster, with a typical BPM of 120-160 BPM, while punk is faster still, with most songs falling between 160 and 200 BPM. The Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop” for example has a BPM of around 176.
Electronic and dance music is typically much faster than pop and rock, but even within the genre, there are sub-genres with different BPMs. Slower styles like house usually have a BPM of 115-130, while trance and techno are around 120-140 BPM and drum and bass is typically between 165 and 180 BPM.
Hip hop typically has a slower tempo than pop, rock and dance music, with songs usually falling between 80 and 100 BPM. Tupac Shakur’s “California Love”, for example, is around 92 BPM.
How to count BPM
In years gone by, songwriters, musicians and DJs would have to manually count BPM. Plenty of people still choose to do it the old-fashioned way, but there are also tools to help you these days – but it’s best to learn how to count BPM using both methods.
How to count BPM by ear
You’ll need a way to listen to the song you want to find the BPM of, and a method of timing – a stopwatch is best.
- Start the song and your stopwatch at the same time
- Play it for 30 seconds, and during that time, count how many beats you hear
- You can either mentally count the beats, or make a tally of them on a piece of paper
- Once you get to 30 seconds, pause the song and your stopwatch
- Multiply the number of beats you’ve counted in 30 seconds by two
- This is the number of beats per minute in the song
How to count BPM using a tool
This is the easier way of doing it – and there are lots of mobile apps and online tools specifically designed to count the BPM of songs.
If you use a BPM counting app, you’ll need to:
- Play the song
- Tap out the beat in the app or using the counter online
- The programme will then calculate the number of beats per minute for you
A lot of Digital audio workstation (DAW) software also features BPM calculators. If using these, all you need to do is import the music file in a digital format into the DAW, and the software will tell you what the BPM is.
Learn more about music
Knowing the BPM of a song can help you to improve your craft, either as a songwriter or a DJ. If you want to learn more tips for honing either of these crafts, there’s no one better to learn from than the biggest names in the business. Gary Barlow’s Songwriting course will teach you everything you need to know about writing a song from scratch, while Mark Ronson’s Music Production course teaches you all the tricks of the trade, from sampling and songwriting to tracking vocals.
