Open the BPM tapper (also at tap.aden.space), play the song and tap on every beat, on the pad, the space bar or any key. From the second tap the BPM shows and a click starts on your beat; keep tapping until the click and the song stay together, and that number is the tempo. If you'd rather not tap, the Key finder reads the BPM, and the key, from an audio file, the song's name or a link.

BPM means beats per minute. A song at 120 BPM has two beats every second, and a beat is usually a quarter note: the pulse you nod your head to.

How do I find the BPM of a song by tapping?

1. Open the BPM tapper at tools.aden.space/tap, or search "tap" in ⌘K on aden.space. You don't need an account, and nothing leaves your browser.
2. Play the song and find the pulse. In a house or techno track it's every kick. In most pop and hip-hop it's kick, snare, kick, snare.
3. Tap on every beat: on the pad, the space bar or any key. From the second tap the BPM shows and the click starts.
4. Keep tapping for a few bars. The tapper averages your last eight taps, and each tap pulls the click back onto your hand, so the number steadies as you go.
5. Stop tapping and listen. The click keeps playing at the tempo you tapped.
6. Nudge the tempo a BPM at a time with minus and plus, or the arrow keys, until the click and the song stay together.

Lost the beat? Stop for two seconds: a pause that long starts a new count. Four dots count the bar from your first tap, so start tapping on a downbeat (the "one" of a bar) if you want the dots to line up with the song's bars. Escape stops the click and the play button starts it again.

Already have a number, from a sample pack name or a collaborator? Type it in the field under the pad and press Enter. The click starts at that BPM, and you can check it against the song in seconds.

How do I know the BPM is right?

The click tells you. Listen to it against the song for 20 or 30 seconds, not two:

• The click creeps ahead of the beat: the tempo is too high. Press minus.
• The click falls behind: the tempo is too low. Press plus.
• The click stays locked through a whole verse and chorus: you have it.

Small errors add up over time, which is why a long listen beats a short one. At 120 BPM, a click at 121 BPM is half a beat out of place after 30 seconds. You won't hear that in the first bar, but you will by the chorus.

Some songs never lock. Records made without a click track, older recordings and live takes speed up and slow down a little, so no single number fits the whole song. Take the tempo that fits the section you care about. A song that changes tempo on purpose needs a tap per section.

Half time or double time?

Tapping gives you a pulse, but most songs can be counted at two tempos, one twice the other. A drum and bass track at 174 BPM taps just as naturally at 87. A trap beat at 140 BPM feels like 70, because the snare only hits once a bar.

To pick one:

1. Find the snare or clap. In most pop, hip-hop, house and techno, it lands on beats 2 and 4 at the tempo producers write. Tap so the snare falls on every second tap.
2. Know the half-time genres. Trap, dubstep and drill are the exception: they are written at the faster tempo (around 140) with the snare on beat 3, so they feel half as fast as their BPM.
3. Check the genre range in the table below. 87 BPM drum and bass is really 174.
4. Try both. Type the doubled or halved number into the field under the pad, press Enter, and listen. The click that sits with how the song moves is the one to keep.

Neither number is wrong: they describe the same song. What matters is that you use the one your DAW, DJ software or collaborator expects.

Typical BPM ranges by genre

These are ranges, not rules. Plenty of songs sit outside them.

When to use automatic detection instead

Tapping is quick when you're listening anyway, and it works on anything you can hear. Automatic detection is better when:

• You have many songs, like a crate of tracks for a DJ set.
• You need the key too. The Key finder gives both, and the Camelot code. See how to find the key of a song.
• You don't have the file. Type the song's name or paste a link (Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, SoundCloud, Deezer or a smart link), and the Key finder reads the key and BPM from about half a minute of the song.
• You're matching songs. With two tracks or more, the Key finder says whether they make a mashup, and how far one has to be sped up or slowed down. See how to make a mashup.

Detection can be wrong in the same places tapping is hard: it can land on half or double the tempo, it struggles with beatless intros, swung or loose grooves, and songs that change tempo, and half a minute of a song only tells you about that half minute. When a detected BPM looks off, check it by ear: type it into the BPM tapper, press Enter and listen to the click against the song.

What to do with the tempo

• Start a track at that tempo. New track at 128 BPM (the button shows your tempo) opens a new track on Aden with the tempo filled in. Without an account you sign up first and land on the same form.
• Set your delays and reverbs. Turn the BPM into delay times with BPM to ms. The maths is in how to convert BPM to ms.
• Mix it. DJs pair songs that sit within a few BPM of each other and in compatible keys. See the Camelot wheel.

In ChatGPT or Claude, add BPM tapper by Aden (mcp.aden.space/bpm-tapper) and ask it to let you tap the tempo of a song.

FAQ

What does BPM mean?

BPM stands for beats per minute, the tempo of a song. At 120 BPM there are 120 beats in a minute, two every second. In most popular music a beat is a quarter note, the pulse you would nod or clap to.

How many times should I tap to find the BPM?

Tap for at least two bars, eight beats in 4/4. The BPM tapper averages your last eight taps, so it settles within a BPM or two. Then stop, listen to the click against the song for half a minute, and nudge it with minus and plus until the two stay together.

Is tapping more accurate than automatic BPM detection?

Neither is always better. Automatic detection is precise on songs with a steady electronic beat, but it can pick half or double the tempo and struggles with loose or changing tempos. Tapping is only as steady as your hand, but listening to the click against the song lets you confirm the number by ear, which catches mistakes detection makes.

Why does my DJ software show half the BPM?

Most songs can be counted at two tempos, one twice the other. A drum and bass track at 174 BPM can also be counted at 87, and a detector picks one of the two. If the snare lands on every tap instead of every second one, double the number. Trap and dubstep are the exception to that rule: they are written at around 140 BPM even though, counted at 70, their snare lands on every second tap.

Is the BPM tapper free?

Yes. It needs no account, and nothing you play or tap leaves your browser.