Beat & BPM

Time & Groove

Also called bpm, beats per minute, tempo.

The beat is the steady pulse you would tap your foot to. It is the "1, 2, 3, 4" underneath the song. BPM, beats per minute, just measures how fast that pulse runs: 60 BPM is one beat per second, 120 is two. A metronome clicks the pulse so you and the band agree on the speed before note one.

Most music you will play sits between 60 and 160 BPM. Ballads hang around 70. Pop and rock live at 90 to 120. Fast punk and metal push past 180. When a bandleader calls "108", that is the number you set your click to. Write it on the setlist next to every song. You will forget.

Here is a practical trick: do not count BPM, feel it as a body movement. Tap your foot and hum the tune. If your foot is tapping twice as fast as it should, you are counting eighth notes as beats. Sort that out and your tempos stop wandering.

A metronome is the best teacher you will ever have. Practise slow, 60 to 80 BPM, then raise it a few clicks at a time. A song you can play at 100 without rushing beats the same song stumbled at 140 every time.