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VIVACE · VERY FAST

160 BPM metronome.

160 beats per minute is vivace: very fast and bright. A beat lasts 0.375 seconds and eighth notes are 160 ms apart, which is near the limit of comfortable alternating hand movement for most beginners. Fast punk, polka, and many fiddle tunes sit near this tempo.

YOUR PRACTICE DESK

A little better, every day.

Ready when you are
BEATS PER MINUTE
40180

Your time. Your tempo.

Space start / stopT tap tempo adjust tempoTap a beat to accent or silence it.
  • 375 msOne beat
  • 1.50 sOne bar of 4/4
  • 188 msEighth note
  • 94 msSixteenth note
  • VivaceTempo marking

What 160 BPM is used for

  • Fast punk and polka patterns, usually felt in 2
  • Single-note runs where each note lands on a beat, not a subdivision
  • Developing stamina: short bursts of four bars followed by rest
  • Hearing the difference between a fast tempo and an eighth-note subdivision at 80 BPM

A practice idea at 160 BPM

Compare two settings that sound similar: 160 BPM with quarter notes, and 80 BPM with the subdivision set to eighth notes. The clicks arrive at the same rate, but the accents fall in different places. Learn to feel both.

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 160 BPM is 80 BPM. Learn a pattern there, then bring it up to 160 BPM here with the tempo trainer.

Browse all lessons

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