How to calculate beats per minute for any song

Calculating the beats of a song seems like a daunting task. But mathematically it is very simple.

Now how accurate you are when calculating beats per minute is another story.

3 different ways to calculate beats per minute

1. You can calculate the BPM manually by counting the beats over the course of a minute.

2. You can calculate the BPM with a BPM counter from any music store.

3. You can also calculate the BPM using a program called Aqua Gnome.

How to calculate BPM’s manually in a 4-step process:

Step 1

You need the following Materials:

• Clock with second hand or stopwatch.
• writing utensil
• paper

Step 2

The first step is to select your favorite song to play.

That was easy!

Now play your song from the beginning. The best time to start counting the beats is from the beginning of the verse when the kick kick kicks in.

For example, the song “Who Got The Props” by Black Moon starts with just the sample playing and then when the verse comes in, the drums come in too. It is from that point where we count the beats.

To hear a free sample of this Black Moon tune, go to Amazon.com.

Then scroll down to the list of tracks where it says Listen to Samples, and then click the Listen link next to the track you want.

In fact, it’s a great free resource for any up-and-coming DJ. Anytime you want to hear a tune, you can go to Amazon.com and search for it, and if they have it, you can listen to a sample for free.

You can get great tips and techniques for building songs and also review records before you spend your hard-earned money.

Step 3

The next step is to start the counting process. Most songs have four beats per measure.

For example, if you were using the song mentioned above to count the beats, you could count 1, 2, 3, 4.

When you’ve counted the beats 1, 2, 3, 4. That would equal one bar. At that point I would make a line on a piece of paper indicating a bar.

I like to dot to indicate beats and a line to indicate bars. You would count again, 1, 2, 3, 4, and make another line on your paper. Continue this process for 30 seconds.

Step 4.

The last step is to calculate how many beats we get in 30 seconds. You do this using a bit of math.

Multiply the total number of BARS by four. Remember, there are four beats per bar. That’s why we use the number four. It will look like this.

After you have calculated how many beats you get in 30 seconds, simply multiply that total by 2 or add that total twice. It will look like this.

And this is how you calculate your beats per minute for any song.