How to use this page
If you already know the tempo you need, tapping its number below is quicker than dragging the slider. The metronome above switches to that BPM straight away, so you only have to press play. Time signature, accent pattern, subdivision and click tone are all still adjustable, and your changes are stored in the browser for next time.
If you do not know the tempo, tap it out on the Tap BPM page first and then pick the matching number. Tapped readings usually land on a fraction, so round to the nearest whole number — a single BPM either way is well below what anyone hears as a tempo change.
The numbers are grouped into eight bands named after the traditional Italian tempo markings. The same number asks for different care depending on which band it sits in, so it is worth reading the band note before you pick.
What the Italian tempo names mean here
Largo, Andante and Allegro are names for a character, not for a number. An Allegro written in 1780 is not the same speed as an Allegro written in 1890, and two conductors will not agree on either. The bands below use those names as labels for ranges, but the number is what actually reproduces from day to day.
A metronome mark is not the right answer to a piece, either. The tempo printed on a score is the composer's proposal; performers find their own speed near it, shaped by the character of the music and the reverb of the room. The number's job is to make that search repeatable.
Largo · 40–59 BPM
40 to 59 BPM is the slowest ground a metronome covers. More than a second passes between beats, so the difficulty is not playing on the click — it is holding steady across the silence between clicks. Players who drift at these tempos almost always drift at fast ones too; slow tempos just make it audible.
Use the subdivision control here. Splitting each beat into two or four fills the silence, and notes that were floating between beats snap into place. Once it is stable, switch subdivision off and play the same passage again — the grid disappearing is the actual test.
Where you hear it: Ballad and film-score introductions · Ambient and drone, where pulse is deliberately vague · Funeral marches and slow requiem movements · Slow blues and gospel ballads · Breathing and meditation tracks
Adagio · 60–71 BPM
60 to 71 BPM runs at about the speed of a clock. At 60 BPM a beat is exactly one second, so this range overlaps the unit people already use to measure time. Feeling the beat is easy here; dividing it accurately is not.
Only the passages you can play accurately slowly will be accurate fast. Bring a hard bar down here, play it ten times in a row without a mistake, then climb in 5 BPM steps until it breaks. The tempo where it breaks is the tempo you actually need to practise.
Where you hear it: Soul and R&B ballads · Slow second movements in concertos · Downtempo and trip-hop · Jazz ballads · The half-time click for 120–142 BPM tracks
Andante · 72–95 BPM
Andante means walking pace, and the label is literal: a comfortable walk is around 80 to 100 steps a minute, so 72 to 95 BPM is the range the body accepts with no effort at all. It is the easiest place to start for anyone using a metronome for the first time.
Try muting beats 1 and 3 and leaving the click on 2 and 4. The click then lands where the snare does, and you hear immediately whether you are pushing ahead of it or dragging behind. With half the clicks gone, keeping the pulse becomes your job rather than the metronome's.
Where you hear it: Boom-bap hip-hop (85–95 BPM) · R&B and neo-soul · Reggae and roots (80–90 BPM) · Lo-fi hip-hop (70–90 BPM) · Country ballads and folk
Moderato · 96–111 BPM
96 to 111 BPM is exactly what the name says: moderate. It is where pop mid-tempo is thickest, and it is neutral enough that almost any style sits on it without sounding forced.
This is a good speed for running a whole piece end to end without stopping. Sectional practice alone leaves you falling apart at the seams; one full pass at this tempo shows exactly where the continuity breaks. Take the broken joint out, fix it slowly, and run the piece again.
Where you hear it: Pop mid-tempo and rock ballads · Soul and funk groove tracks · Bossa nova and Latin jazz · Shuffle blues · Concert-band and marching repertoire
Allegro · 112–139 BPM
112 to 139 BPM is dance tempo. The 120–128 BPM band that disco established and house made permanent sits right in the middle, and the de facto standard for club music is decided inside this range.
If your sixteenths blur at this tempo, the problem is usually motion size rather than speed. Fingers or wrists travelling further than necessary simply run out of time. Halve the tempo, strip the motion down to the minimum, then bring that economy back up with you.
Where you hear it: Disco and house (120–128 BPM) · Pop dance and EDM · Rock and punk rock at their default speed · Techno (125–135 BPM) · Marches, conventionally near 120 BPM
Vivace · 140–159 BPM
140 to 159 BPM is fast without being frantic. Counting every quarter note starts to be a chore, and this is where most players begin grouping two beats into one.
Fast practice improves by shrinking the repeat unit, not by adding hours. Cut the passage into two-bar pieces, make each one accurate, then join them. Repeating the whole thing with a mistake in it only rehearses the mistake.
Where you hear it: Dubstep and trap (notated around 140 BPM) · Trance (138–142 BPM) · Hard rock and mid-tempo metal · Punk rock · Fast waltzes and polkas
Presto · 160–199 BPM
160 to 199 BPM is past the point where counting individual quarter notes is realistic. Most players group beats in pairs here and feel a large pulse at half the printed speed.
Turn subdivision off up here and keep only the large beats. A click that dense reads as a wall of sound and stops being a reference at all. Accent the first beat of the bar only, then check after eight bars whether you are still with it.
Where you hear it: Drum and bass (170–176 BPM) · Up-tempo ska and rocksteady · Hardcore punk (180 BPM and up) · Bluegrass and Irish reels · Fast final movements in classical repertoire
Prestissimo · 200–240 BPM
200 to 240 BPM is the top of the dial. A beat drops under 300 milliseconds, the click starts to read as a continuous tone, and quarter notes are perceived in groups rather than one at a time.
Short and often. Repetition at this speed loads the hands hard, and repeating while fatigued cements bad mechanics. Cap each burst at about 30 seconds and drop to half speed in between to check the motion has not grown.
Where you hear it: Thrash and speed metal · Gabber and hardcore techno (200 BPM and up) · Up-tempo bebop · Tarantella and other fast folk dances · Technique drills at the top of the range
Frequently asked questions
Why does the range stop at 40 and 240 BPM?
Mechanical metronomes conventionally run from 40 to 208, and electronic ones usually reach 240 or so. Below 40 the gap between beats is too long to keep a reference, and above 240 most players count in half or quarter beats anyway, which is the same thing as using a slower tempo.
Can I use decimal tempos like 121.5 BPM?
This metronome works in whole BPM steps. Decimal tempos usually come up when you are matching an existing recording — in that case tap the tempo, use the nearest whole number here, and fine-tune inside your DAW where the grid can hold the fraction.