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ALLEGRO · TWO BEATS PER SECOND

120 BPM metronome.

120 beats per minute is the most common reference tempo in music software and the classic tempo of a march, a disco groove, and most house music. There are exactly two beats per second, so a bar of 4/4 takes two seconds and eighth notes fall every quarter of a second.

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BEATS PER MINUTE
40180

Your time. Your tempo.

Space start / stopT tap tempo adjust tempoTap a beat to accent or silence it.
  • 500 msOne beat
  • 2.00 sOne bar of 4/4
  • 250 msEighth note
  • 125 msSixteenth note
  • AllegroTempo marking

What 120 BPM is used for

  • Four-on-the-floor drum patterns with the kick on every beat
  • Pop songs with a bright, danceable feel
  • Checking rhythm math: at 120 BPM a quarter note is 500 ms and an eighth note is 250 ms
  • Moving an expert Playroom exercise above its written tempo

A practice idea at 120 BPM

Play a four-on-the-floor groove: kick on every beat, snare on 2 and 4, closed hi-hat on every eighth note. If the hi-hat rushes, switch the metronome subdivision to eighth notes for a bar and match it exactly.

Press Space to start and stop, T to tap a new tempo, and the arrow keys to nudge the speed by one BPM. The routine in how to use a metronome builds on these steps.

Lessons near this tempo

Playroom lessons are written at 48, 60, 72, and 80 BPM so every note can be counted; the closest lesson tempo to 120 BPM is 80 BPM. Learn a pattern there, then bring it up to 120 BPM here with the tempo trainer.

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Other tempos

See the full chart of Italian tempo markings in tempo markings and BPM, or go back to the online metronome.

Learn a little about the beat