Tempo (BPM) Guessing Game

About Tempo

Tempo plays a short series of identical clicks at a steady speed. You then slide to the tempo in beats per minute, or BPM. It is the unit musicians and DJs use: 60 BPM is one beat per second, 120 BPM is two beats per second.

On the first levels the tempo is between 60 and 120 BPM, a range that covers most of what we call a moderate pace. Later it can be as slow as 50 or as fast as 200 BPM. The number of clicks is just enough to feel the pulse, from four at slow tempos to eight at fast ones. The game needs sound, and the slider is logarithmic because tempo is perceived in ratios.

How to play

1. Turn your volume up a little and listen to the clicks. A blinking note shows the beat for those who prefer to watch.
2. Try to feel the pace, for example by tapping along with a finger.
3. Move the slider to your estimate of the tempo in BPM, between 40 and 220.
4. Lock in. The true tempo is shown on the slider, so that you can compare it with your feeling.

You hear a short series of clicks at a steady speed. Slide to the number of beats per minute (BPM). Sound is needed. The slider is logarithmic.

How scoring works

The score is based on the ratio of your estimate to the real tempo on a logarithmic scale. A perfect answer scores 100 and the score reaches 0 at a factor of about 1.5 on level 1 and 1.25 on level 10. In other words, on the top level you must be within about 12 percent to earn half the points.

The tempo is always a multiple of 5 BPM. The clicks are played with sample-accurate timing by the audio engine of your browser, so the speed is precise. The first click of every group of four is a little higher, which is the way a metronome marks a bar.

What it trains

Tempo trains your sense of speed in sound. People with a good feeling for tempo can keep a steady pace when running, dancing or playing an instrument, and can notice when a recording is sped up or slowed down.

It is also an easy way to learn the language of musical speed. After a few rounds, 60, 90, 120 and 150 BPM become recognizable landmarks, and you start to hear how popular songs fall into these groups.

Tips for a higher score

• Use your body as a reference. A walking pace is about 100 to 120 beats per minute, and a resting heart rate is 60 to 80.
• Tap along with your finger for 10 seconds and then count your taps in a quarter of a minute: multiply by four.
• Learn some anchors: lullabies and slow ballads around 60 to 70, pop and rock around 120, dance music around 125 to 130 and drum and bass about 170.
• Beware of half or double tempo. A beat can feel like it is twice or half as fast. Try to settle on the pace that feels most natural and check by tapping along.
• If you hear no sound, check your device volume and that sound effects are on in Settings.

The idea behind it

Humans have a preferred tempo, called the spontaneous motor tempo, at about 100 to 120 beats per minute, found in many studies of tapping and walking since the work of Paul Fraisse in the 1950s. We hear beats at this pace more clearly than slow or fast ones, and a pulse is easiest to follow between about 60 and 200 BPM.

The just-noticeable difference for tempo in good listeners is only a few percent, so the game is lenient compared with what people can do. The traditional Italian tempo terms give rough ranges: Largo about 40 to 60, Andante about 76 to 108, Allegro about 120 to 156 and Presto about 168 to 200 BPM.

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