Tempo marking
AllegroThe traditional Italian marking for 120–156 BPM: fast, quick and bright.Pulse · tempo · time
120 BPM Metronome
This page opens a working metronome at 120 BPM. Each click arrives every 500 milliseconds (0.5 seconds), which the Italian tempo scale calls Allegro. Press start, then change the tempo or the time signature whenever you want — nothing here is locked.
Beats per minute
BPM
1234
Ready at 120 BPM in 4/4.
Tempo facts
How fast is 120 BPM?
A metronome set to 120 BPM plays 120 evenly spaced clicks every minute. Here is what that works out to.
Beat interval
500 ms60000 ÷ 120 = 500 milliseconds between clicks, or 0.5 seconds.Bar length
2 sFour beats of 4/4 at 120 BPM fill 2 seconds.Half and double time
60 / 240One beat per two clicks gives 60 BPM; splitting each beat in two gives 240 BPM.How 120 BPM feels
120 BPM is the most used tempo in recorded music: exactly two beats a second, 500 milliseconds each. Four beats fill two seconds precisely, which makes it the easiest tempo to count, loop and edit against.
What to practise at 120 BPM
120 is the reference point for almost everything. Sixteenth notes land every 125 milliseconds and eighth notes every 250 — clean numbers that make subdivision practice easy to check by ear and by clock.
Where you meet 120 BPM
120 BPM is the standard military march tempo, roughly the speed of a brisk walk, and the traditional dividing line between Moderato and Allegro. Most recording software opens a new project here, and most house and disco records sit within a few beats of it.
Half time and double time
120 BPM in half time is 60 BPM: the same music, counted with one beat for every two clicks. Double time is 240 BPM, where every beat splits into two even eighth notes. Both sit inside the 30 to 300 BPM range of this metronome, so you can switch between them and hear the difference straight away.
This relationship is the reason a written tempo and a felt tempo often disagree. Drummers and producers move between the two constantly, and it is also the safest way to learn something fast: build it at 60 BPM, keep the same subdivisions, then double the number once the movement is automatic.