figuring out tempi

Hedon

Senior Member
how do you guys figure tempo of a song you listen to (not using metronomes obviously)? whats your reference, a second? i just dont know how to do it. any ways to practice it?
 
I'm not sure I understand what you're asking. Are you asking how to find a down beat or are you wanting to know how many beats per minute there are in a given song?
 
There's no real "way" of working out what tempo a song is just from listening to it. It's like listening to a song and knowing what key it's in just from listening to it. There are some people who can tell just by listening but it's got a lot to do with natural ability and the rest comes down to simple experience. There is no "technique" for figuring out a tempo you've just got to listen to more music.
 
Are you referring to counting the correct beats per minute (tempo) to lead the rest of the band into the song?
 
this is what you do, you get a stop watch and a record the amount of time it takes for 6 beats of music then divide the time by 60, then multiply that number by 6 (because you timed 6 beats) if you timed it for 8 beats then you would multiply by 8,

so really u multiply by the number of beats
 
Why the no-metronome restriction? That's what I use- guess the approximate tempo, get at least one beat in sync with the track, see if the click gets ahead or behind, adjust accordingly, repeat until the two stay in sync for several measures.
 
Also, many metronomes have a "tap" feature where you tap the beat and it tells you the bpm. I have a roland rmp-5 and a tama rhythm watch, both have this feature.

There are probably simple computer programs that do this too that you could donwload.
 
oh man i didnt figure how stupid my initial post was written

i mean how do i figure the tempo MYSELF so if someone asks me the tempo i say man wait a second... hmm.. about 155

yeah i guess theres no real way to practice it
i dont see how listening more to music will help though

does it make sense to "know" how long a second is and use it as reference?
 
Instead of using seconds, which are a pretty abstract reference point, you might try figuring out the tempos of some real familiar recorded songs. You've heard Back in Black, Another One Bites the Dust, Magic Man, or whatever a thousand times- you should be able to pull up their tempos from memory; if you can assign numbers to them, you should have no problem picking tempos out of the air pretty exactly.
 
If I want to guess I'll compare the tempo with songs where I know the tempo. Doing that I can normally get close in the 100-130bpm range. I'm also ok at around 60bpm because when I was young I taught myself to estimate seconds by imagining the tick of a clock (back in the days when clocks ticked).

But I'd still rather tap it into a metronome if I have it handy (Todd, does this mean I qualify as a kid? Please please please!)

After my involvement in the Seven Nation Army Challenge, creating versions of the song and listening to those of others, I now have 120bpm hard wired into me!
 
Instead of using seconds, which are a pretty abstract reference point, you might try figuring out the tempos of some real familiar recorded songs. You've heard Back in Black, Another One Bites the Dust, Magic Man, or whatever a thousand times- you should be able to pull up their tempos from memory; if you can assign numbers to them, you should have no problem picking tempos out of the air pretty exactly.

That's what I do, and here are some of my references:

74 – Hotel California
80 – We Will Rock You
98 – Eminence Front
105 – We Can Work It Out
120 – Dim All the Lights
125 - Ticket To Ride
139 – Feel Good Inc
145-148 – Molly’s Chambers
150 - All the Small Things

But there's a method to doing it right. You have to obviously be very familiar with the song, and the trick is to 'hear' it in your head... like you're listening to the radio. Don't sing it to yourself... don't tap your foot or try to play the beat... or you'll influence the tempo. Just let it play in your head for a few seconds, a few bars, and mentally lock it in.

Will it be perfect? Well, not every time, but you'll usually get within a few bpm. Anything that needs to be exact should be done with a 'nome.

Also, if you've played something to a click enough times, chances are you know that tempo to repeat it on the fly. But again, it's the same process as above.

Bermuda
 
Bermuda, thanks, some of them will come in handy - Hotel Calif, We Will Rock you, Ticket to Ride.

Todd, sorry, I missed the post that Bermuda quoted. I thought I was adding something new. Real sharp ...
 
That's what I do, and here are some of my references:

74 – Hotel California
80 – We Will Rock You
98 – Eminence Front
105 – We Can Work It Out
120 – Dim All the Lights
125 - Ticket To Ride
139 – Feel Good Inc
145-148 – Molly’s Chambers
150 - All the Small Things

But there's a method to doing it right. You have to obviously be very familiar with the song, and the trick is to 'hear' it in your head... like you're listening to the radio. Don't sing it to yourself... don't tap your foot or try to play the beat... or you'll influence the tempo. Just let it play in your head for a few seconds, a few bars, and mentally lock it in.

Will it be perfect? Well, not every time, but you'll usually get within a few bpm. Anything that needs to be exact should be done with a 'nome.

Also, if you've played something to a click enough times, chances are you know that tempo to repeat it on the fly. But again, it's the same process as above.

Bermuda

This is a good idea, i think of recordings in a known key in my head to work out what note something is so i suppose it could work for tempos too.
 
Instead of using seconds, which are a pretty abstract reference point, you might try figuring out the tempos of some real familiar recorded songs. You've heard Back in Black, Another One Bites the Dust, Magic Man, or whatever a thousand times- you should be able to pull up their tempos from memory; if you can assign numbers to them, you should have no problem picking tempos out of the air pretty exactly.

that seems like a damn good method.. thanks!
 
This is a good idea, i think of recordings in a known key in my head to work out what note something is so i suppose it could work for tempos too.

I've always imagined it would be the same for keys, thanks for confirming that!

Bermuda
 
Back
Top