The Ear Training Lab

What is BPM?

BPM stands for 'beats per minute' - how many steady beats of the pulse happen in one minute. At 60 BPM there is exactly one beat every second, at 120 BPM there are two beats every second (twice as fast), and at 90 BPM the beat sits halfway between the two.

Slow ballads often sit around 60-80 BPM, relaxed pop and rock around 90-120 BPM, and upbeat dance and punchy rock tracks 120-150 BPM or more.

How To Play

Press 'Begin Game', then 'Start Metronome' to hear the beat. Tap the 'Tempo Tap' button in time with the beeps (you can also press the T key on a keyboard). After your second tap the display shows your tempo, which then updates every time you tap.

The tempo is the average of your last 10 taps, rounded to the nearest whole BPM. If you make a bad tap, press 'Reset' to clear the display and start again. If you stop tapping for more than 3 seconds, the next tap starts a fresh count.

When the number has settled to a consistent value, stop tapping and press 'Submit'.

Scoring

Exactly the right tempo is 'perfect'. Within 2 BPM counts as correct, and anything further away is incorrect. Perfect and close answers both add to your correct total.

Tips

Listen for a few beats before you start tapping, and try to tap exactly on each beep rather than reacting to it. Tapping steadily for 8-10 beats gives the most accurate result. Try counting along out loud: 'one, two, three, four...' to lock in to the pulse.