Guide
80 BPM Metronome: the complete guide
By Vivek Badoni, music teacher · Updated
This online metronome opens at 80 BPM, a relaxed walking pace in the Andante range. Press Start and play along. Tempo, time signature, subdivisions, sound and tap tempo are all still available.
Note lengths at 80 BPM
| Note value | Per beat | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Quarter note | 1 | 0.75 s |
| Eighth notes | 2 | 0.375 s each |
| Triplets | 3 | 0.25 s each |
| Sixteenth notes | 4 | 0.19 s each |
| Whole bar of 4/4 | — | 3.00 s |
| Whole bar of 3/4 | — | 2.25 s |
What sounds good at 80 BPM?
Slow pop ballads, soft rock, many film songs and gentle folk tunes sit between about 70 and 85 BPM. If a song feels calm and unhurried but still moves forward, it's probably near here.
Practising strumming at 80 BPM
80 BPM is the perfect speed for building strumming patterns on guitar or ukulele:
- Turn on eighth-note subdivisions so you hear "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and".
- Strum down on every number and up on every "and", keeping your hand moving even when you skip a strum.
- Try the classic pattern down, down-up, up-down-up (D, DU, UDU) until it feels automatic.
- Change chord on beat 1 of each bar without stopping your strumming hand.
Our guide to holding the guitar and strumming explains the motion step by step.
Waltzes and 6/8 at 80
Choose 3/4 for a waltz or 6/8 for a lilting ballad. In 6/8, many players feel two big beats per bar, so try the tempo you'd tap with your foot.
Want it slower? Try the 60 BPM metronome. A little faster? The 100 BPM metronome.
