Guide
120 BPM Metronome: the complete guide
By Vivek Badoni, music teacher · Updated
This online metronome opens at 120 BPM: two clicks every second. Press Start to begin. Tempo, time signature, subdivisions, sound and tap tempo are all still available.
Note lengths at 120 BPM
| Note value | Per beat | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Quarter note | 1 | 0.50 s |
| Eighth notes | 2 | 0.25 s each |
| Triplets | 3 | 0.17 s each |
| Sixteenth notes | 4 | 0.125 s each |
| Whole bar of 4/4 | — | 2.00 s |
Why 120 BPM is everywhere
120 BPM is the start of the Allegro range and probably the most familiar tempo in modern music. Marches have traditionally been played at about 120 steps a minute, and a huge amount of dance, house and upbeat pop sits between 118 and 128 BPM. It's also the default tempo in most recording software.
The half-time trick
120 BPM is exactly double 60 BPM. That gives you two useful ways to practise:
- Feel it in half time: count one beat for every two clicks. The music now feels like 60 BPM, calm and spacious, while the clicks keep your eighth notes precise.
- Build up from 60: a passage in sixteenth notes at 60 BPM has the same notes per second as eighth notes at 120. Practise the slow version with subdivisions on, then switch.
Getting comfortable at 120
- Play your passage cleanly at 100 BPM three times in a row.
- Move to 108, then 112, then 120, only moving up when the slower tempo is easy.
- Keep your shoulders, wrists and fingers relaxed. Tension is what makes fast playing fall apart.
Want slower? The 100 BPM metronome or 60 BPM metronome. Faster? The 140 BPM metronome.
