UtilibyWritten by the Utiliby editorial team · Last updated October 25, 2026 · Rules and formulas reviewed October 2026
What this free BPM detector and tap tempo counter does
BPM stands for beats per minute, the standard way to describe how fast a piece of music is. DJs need it to mix tracks, drummers and runners need it to keep pace, producers need it to set up a session, and dancers need it to choose a routine. Finding it by ear is possible but slow. This free online tool gives you two ways to find it: a tap tempo counter that works out the BPM from your taps, and an automatic BPM detector that analyzes an audio file in your browser.
The file analysis draws the beats on the waveform and plays a click track so you can verify them. A delay time table turns any BPM into milliseconds for echo and delay effects. Nothing is uploaded, and there is no account.
How to use tap tempo
- Listen to the music. Pick a song or a groove and find the main beat, the pulse you would tap your foot to.
- Tap. Click the TAP button, tap the screen or press the space bar on each beat. Start with the second tap to see a number.
- Keep going. The average settles after eight to ten taps. The steadiness figure shows how even your tapping was.
- Reset. After a pause of a few seconds the counter starts again by itself. You can also reset it by hand.
If the number seems too slow or too fast, you may be tapping every second beat or every half beat. Check the half and double values shown beside the result.
How to detect the BPM of a song file
- Drop the file on the Detect from a file tab. MP3, WAV, M4A, FLAC and the audio of video files work.
- Wait a few seconds. The tool listens for the moments when the sound changes suddenly, such as drum hits, and finds the regular spacing between them.
- Check the result. Press Play with click track and listen to whether the clicks fall on the beat. If they sit on every second beat, use the double or half value.
- Adjust the range if needed. Set the lowest and highest BPM to the range you expect.
How automatic BPM detection works
The detector first measures how the spectrum of the sound changes over time. Sudden increases in energy, which happen when a drum is struck or a note starts, produce an onset curve. The curve is then compared with delayed copies of itself, a technique called autocorrelation. When the delay matches the spacing between beats, the curve lines up with itself and the score is high. The tool also checks multiples of the delay, which sharpens the estimate, and favors tempos near the range where most music sits.
Once it has the tempo, it slides a pulse train over the onset curve to find where the beats fall, and extends that grid over the whole file. This approach follows methods described in research on beat tracking by Scheirer and Ellis. It works best on music with a steady, audible pulse.
Half-time, double-time and why detectors disagree
A beat is a matter of perception. A song at 70 BPM with busy eighth notes can feel like 140, and a song at 140 BPM can feel like 70 if you tap along to the kick and snare. Software cannot know which the listener means, so it picks the most likely and reports the others. Many DJ programs show different values for the same track for exactly this reason.
| Genre | Typical BPM |
|---|---|
| Reggae, slow ballads | 60 to 90 |
| Hip hop | 80 to 100 |
| Pop and rock | 100 to 130 |
| House | 118 to 130 |
| Techno and trance | 125 to 150 |
| Dubstep | about 140 (feels like 70) |
| Drum and bass | 160 to 180 |
Delay times, note lengths and tempo sync
To make an echo fall in time with the music, set the delay time to a note length at the song's tempo. A quarter note lasts 60000 divided by the BPM, in milliseconds. At 120 BPM it is 500 ms, an eighth note is 250 ms and a sixteenth is 125 ms. A dotted note is 1.5 times as long as the straight note, and a triplet is two thirds as long.
The table in the tool fills in these numbers for the current BPM. The rate column gives the same value as a frequency in hertz, which is useful for syncing the speed of a tremolo, a chorus or an auto-pan to the beat.
Common uses
- DJs: match the tempo of two tracks before a mix.
- Producers: set the project tempo to sampled loops and calculate delay times.
- Runners and fitness: pick music that matches a cadence, often 150 to 180 BPM for running.
- Dancers and teachers: choose music for a routine.
- Musicians: find the speed of a song to practice with a metronome.
- Video editors: cut on the beat using the beat times.
Tips for accurate results
- Use a section with the full rhythm, not an intro or breakdown.
- Narrow the BPM range if you know the genre.
- Listen with the click track on, in headphones, and check the beat in several places.
- If the music speeds up and slows down, note the tempo for each section, since a single figure cannot describe it.
- For tap tempo, tap along to the kick or snare and keep your tapping relaxed and regular.
- Use a clean version of the recording. Heavy reverb and live recordings blur the beat.
Troubleshooting
- The BPM is half or double what I expected: use the half or double value shown, or change the range.
- Confidence is low: pick a more rhythmic section, or tap along to check.
- The beat markers drift: the tempo is not constant, or the estimate is a little off. Use the figure as an average.
- The file will not load: your browser may not support the format. Convert it to MP3 or WAV first.
- The metronome will not start: tap or detect a BPM first, and make sure your device sound is on.
Privacy and how it works
For file analysis, your browser decodes the audio into samples, and the page computes the onset curve and the tempo in memory with JavaScript. Nothing is uploaded, stored or logged. Tap tempo uses only the timing of your taps. Closing the tab clears everything.
Related free tools
Use these free online tools together with this one:
- Find the musical key of the same track with the song key finder.
- Change the tempo or pitch of a track with the audio speed and pitch changer.
- Trim a section to analyse with the audio cutter.
- Join clips into one track with the audio merger.
- Isolate the beat or the vocals with the vocal remover.
- Get the audio out of a video with the MP4 to MP3 converter.
- Record a loop or a demo with the online voice recorder.
- Make a quiet track louder with the audio volume booster.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find the BPM of a song?
Open the Detect from a file tab, drop in the song, and the tool analyzes the beat in a few seconds. Or open the Tap tempo tab and tap along to the music. Both show the BPM, and the file tab also draws the beats on the waveform.
How does tap tempo work?
Each tap is timed. The tool averages the gaps between your most recent taps and converts the average to beats per minute. The more you tap, the steadier the answer. Ten or more taps are plenty.
Is the automatic BPM detector accurate?
For music with a clear, steady beat, it is usually accurate to within a fraction of a BPM. It can struggle with free tempo, heavy rubato, very sparse rhythm and music that changes speed. The tool shows a confidence level and lets you check by playing a click track over the song.
Why does it say 87 BPM when I expected 174?
Tempo detection can land on half or double time, because a rhythm at 174 BPM also has a beat every second beat at 87 BPM. The result lists half and double time. Narrow the BPM range, or tap along, to choose the one that feels right.
Can I detect the BPM of a section of a song?
The tool analyzes up to two minutes from the middle of the file. To check a specific part, cut it first with the Audio Cutter and load the clip.
What does the beat grid do?
Green lines on the waveform mark the beats the tool found. Play with click track adds a click on each one, so you can hear immediately if the grid matches the music.
What is the range of BPM it looks for?
By default 60 to 200 BPM. You can change the lowest and highest values, for example 80 to 160 for dance music, or 40 to 100 for slow music.
What is a normal BPM for different music?
Slow ballads run around 60 to 80 BPM, hip hop 80 to 100, pop 100 to 130, house 118 to 130, techno 120 to 150, and drum and bass 160 to 180. Most popular songs fall between 90 and 140 BPM.
What are the delay times for?
Producers and engineers sync echo and delay effects to the tempo. The table shows the length of each note value in milliseconds at the current BPM, with straight, dotted and triplet versions, and the matching rate in hertz for tempo-synced modulation.
Does the metronome work?
Yes. After tapping or detecting a BPM, press Start metronome to hear a click at that tempo. The first click of every group of four is higher.
Can I download the beat times?
Yes. After analyzing a file, click Download beat times to save a CSV with the time in seconds of each beat. It can be used to line up edits or lights.
Is my file uploaded to a server?
No. The file is decoded and analyzed on your device. Nothing is sent anywhere. The tap tempo tab does not use any audio.
Why is the confidence low?
A low value means the beat is weak or unclear, or there are several equally strong rhythms. Try a more rhythmic section, narrow the BPM range, or tap along to confirm.
Will it work on spoken audio?
Speech has no steady beat, so BPM detection does not apply. It works best with music that has drums or a clear pulse.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. Tap tempo works well with a finger, and file analysis works in a modern mobile browser, though long files take longer.
How many taps do I need?
At least two to get a number, and about eight to ten for a stable result. The steadiness figure shows how even your taps were.
What can I print or save from the page?
Print / save summary prints the detected BPM, tap tempo and delay table. Copy copies the BPM and delay times as text, and the CSV contains the beat times.
Sources and further reading
- Scheirer, E. D. (1998). Tempo and beat analysis of acoustic musical signals. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 103(1), 588-601.
- Ellis, D. P. W. (2007). Beat tracking by dynamic programming. Journal of New Music Research, 36(1), 51-60.
- Müller, M. (2015). Fundamentals of Music Processing, Springer, chapter on tempo and beat tracking.
- MDN Web Docs, Web Audio API, for how browsers decode and schedule audio.
Sources were consulted in October 2026. Standards and rules can change, so always check the official page for your situation.