BPM Calculator: Beat Duration and Note Delay Times

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Beats per minute. Tap along to your song to find the number, then enter it here.
bpm
The upper number is how many beats are in each bar. Affects the bar duration and the scale of the note-duration chart.
Which note gets one beat in this time signature. 4/4 uses quarter notes; 6/8 typically uses eighth notes.
Beat durationFast tempo (120-149 BPM)
500ms

Duration of one beat (the reference note type) in milliseconds

Beat duration0.5s
Bar duration2,000ms
Whole note2,000ms
Half note1,000ms
Quarter note500ms
Eighth note250ms
Sixteenth note125ms
32nd note62.5ms
Dotted quarter750ms
Dotted eighth375ms
Quarter note triplet333.33ms
Eighth note triplet166.67ms
Tempo markingAllegro (fast, lively)
500 ms
Prestissimo / Presto (160+ BPM)<375Vivace / Allegro (120-160 BPM)375-500Moderato (90-120 BPM)500-667Andante / Adagio (60-90 BPM)667-1000Largo / Grave (below 60 BPM)1000+

At 120 BPM, one beat is 500.0 ms.

  • One beat lasts 500.0 ms (0.500 s). Your delay or reverb pre-delay should be set to a multiple of this to stay in sync.
  • A dotted-eighth note delay (375 ms) is a classic "slap" echo used in many pop and rock tracks - it falls exactly halfway between the beat and the next dotted-quarter subdivision.
  • One full bar in 4/4 lasts 2000 ms. For reverb tails, a value just below 2000 ms avoids smearing into the next bar.
  • At 120 BPM, the classical marking is "Allegro".

Next stepTo find the BPM of a song you do not know, tap the spacebar along to the beat for 8-12 taps, then read the average interval from your tap-tempo tool and enter it above.

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