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Tempo conversions

BPM Calculator

Convert BPM to milliseconds, seconds, Hz and bars — and back. Delay times for every note value.

One beat
500.0 ms
Frequency
2.000 Hz
One bar (4/4)
2.000 s

Note values at this tempo

NoteStraightDottedTriplet
Whole———
Half———
Quarter———
Eighth———
Sixteenth———
32nd———

ms · quarter note = 1 beat

=120.0BPM

Song length

duration
2:08
bars
90

Don’t know the BPM? Tap it out with the tap tempo tool tap tempo tool.

What this BPM calculator does

Type a tempo and every number producers actually need appears at once: the length of one beat in milliseconds, the tempo in Hertz, the duration of a bar, and a full table of note values — whole notes down to 32nds — in straight, dotted and triplet versions. Those are the delay times you dial into a delay pedal or plugin so the repeats land on the grid, and the LFO rates you set on a synth so a filter sweep breathes in time with the song.

It also runs backwards. Enter an interval in milliseconds (for example a delay time you like the sound of) and read the BPM it corresponds to, or enter a number of bars to get the section length in minutes and seconds — handy when you are sketching an arrangement and need to know whether a 32-bar intro at 140 BPM fits under a 60-second video.

The formulas

  • Beat length (ms) = 60,000 ÷ BPM
  • Note value (ms) = beat length × beats in the note (whole = 4, half = 2, quarter = 1, eighth = ½, sixteenth = ¼)
  • Dotted = note value × 1.5 · Triplet = note value × ⅔
  • Hz = BPM ÷ 60 · BPM = 60,000 ÷ interval in ms
  • Bar length (s) = beats per bar × 60 ÷ BPM

Don’t know the tempo yet? Open the tap tempo tool, tap along with the track and the delay times appear right under the pad. Once you have a number, the online metronome will play it back and the tempo markings chart tells you what to call it.

Frequently asked questions

How do I convert BPM to milliseconds?
Divide 60,000 by the BPM. At 120 BPM one beat (a quarter note) lasts 60,000 ÷ 120 = 500 ms. An eighth note is half of that (250 ms), a sixteenth a quarter (125 ms), a dotted eighth is 1.5 × 250 = 375 ms, and an eighth-note triplet is 250 × 2 ÷ 3 ≈ 166.7 ms.
How do I convert milliseconds to BPM?
Divide 60,000 by the interval in milliseconds. A 500 ms gap between beats is 120 BPM; 400 ms is 150 BPM. The “Milliseconds to BPM” box on this page does it for you.
What is BPM in Hz?
Divide BPM by 60. 120 BPM is 2 Hz — two beats per second. This is useful for LFO rates on synths and for tempo-synced effects that are set in Hertz.
How long is a bar at a given BPM?
In 4/4, one bar is four beats, so it lasts 4 × 60 ÷ BPM seconds: 2 seconds at 120 BPM, 2.4 seconds at 100 BPM. A 64-bar section at 120 BPM lasts 128 seconds (2:08).
Why use dotted and triplet delay times?
A delay set to a dotted eighth (three sixteenths) creates the classic rhythmic “U2” echo; a triplet setting gives a shuffled, swung feel. Both stay locked to the song because they are exact fractions of the beat.