60 BPM metronome
At 60 BPM, one beat lasts 1,000 ms (1 s). The same spacing as a clock's second hand, slow enough to count at ease.
- One beat
- 1,000 ms
- Per second
- 1 beats
- One bar of 4/4
- 4 s
- Marking (rough)
- Adagio
What 60 BPM is like
It sounds once a second, in step with a clock's second hand. Each beat is long, so you may come in early instead of waiting for the next click.
Good for
- Long notes and breathing exercises
- Checking a new phrase one note at a time
- Counting the space between beats in your head
These are rough guides. The right speed depends on the piece, the instrument and the player. Tempo markings cover different BPM ranges in different sources, and some give another marking for the same BPM. The marking here follows the divisions on tempofy's ruler.
Note lengths at 60 BPM
Lengths with the quarter note as one beat. ms means milliseconds: 1,000 ms is one second.
| Note | Beats | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 4,000 ms |
| Dotted half note | 3 | 3,000 ms |
| Half note | 2 | 2,000 ms |
| Dotted quarter note | 1.5 | 1,500 ms |
| Quarter note | 1 | 1,000 ms |
| Dotted eighth note | 0.75 | 750 ms |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 500 ms |
| One note of a triplet | 1/3 | 333.3 ms |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 250 ms |
Some scores count the BPM on a half note or a dotted quarter note. The lengths change then.
Bar lengths at 60 BPM
At the same BPM, the length of a bar depends on the time signature.
| Meter | 1 bar | 8 bars | Bars a minute |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2/4 | 2 s | 16 s | 30 |
| 3/4 | 3 s | 24 s | 20 |
| 4/4 | 4 s | 32 s | 15 |