120 BPM in Milliseconds: Delay Times and Note Lengths
At 120 BPM one beat (a quarter note) lasts 500 ms and one bar of 4/4 lasts 2 seconds. Below are the delay times for every note value, the same notes in Hz, bar and phrase lengths, samples per beat and the genres that typically sit at this tempo.
120 BPM at a glance
- One beat at 120 BPM lasts 500 ms (60,000 divided by 120), an eighth note 250 ms and a dotted eighth 375 ms.
- 120 BPM is one of the few tempos between 60 and 200 where a beat is a whole number of milliseconds, so quarter note delays need no rounding.
- At both 44.1 kHz and 48 kHz a beat is a whole number of samples (22,050 and 24,000), so loops cut on the beat line up exactly at either rate.
- A 4 bar phrase in 4/4 takes 8 seconds, and 3 minutes of music at this tempo holds 90 bars of 4/4.
- Going from 120 to 121 BPM shortens each beat by 4.132 ms, about 0.83% of the beat.
- An LFO synced to quarter notes runs at 2 Hz; synced to whole bars of 4/4 it runs at 0.5 Hz.
Delay times at 120 BPM
Milliseconds for each note value. Dotted notes are 1.5 times as long, triplets 2/3 as long. Rounded to 2 decimals.
| Note | Straight | Dotted | Triplet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note (1/1) | 2,000 ms | 3,000 ms | 1,333.33 ms |
| Half note (1/2) | 1,000 ms | 1,500 ms | 666.67 ms |
| Quarter note (1/4) | 500 ms | 750 ms | 333.33 ms |
| Eighth note (1/8) | 250 ms | 375 ms | 166.67 ms |
| Sixteenth note (1/16) | 125 ms | 187.5 ms | 83.33 ms |
| 1/32 note | 62.5 ms | 93.75 ms | 41.67 ms |
| 1/64 note | 31.25 ms | 46.88 ms | 20.83 ms |
120 BPM in Hz for LFOs
The rate that repeats once per note, for an LFO, tremolo or auto pan synced to 120 BPM. Rounded to 3 decimals.
| Note | Straight | Dotted | Triplet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note (1/1) | 0.5 Hz | 0.333 Hz | 0.75 Hz |
| Half note (1/2) | 1 Hz | 0.667 Hz | 1.5 Hz |
| Quarter note (1/4) | 2 Hz | 1.333 Hz | 3 Hz |
| Eighth note (1/8) | 4 Hz | 2.667 Hz | 6 Hz |
| Sixteenth note (1/16) | 8 Hz | 5.333 Hz | 12 Hz |
| 1/32 note | 16 Hz | 10.667 Hz | 24 Hz |
| 1/64 note | 32 Hz | 21.333 Hz | 48 Hz |
Bar lengths at 120 BPM
| 1 bar of 4/4 | 2 s |
| 2 bars of 4/4 | 4 s |
| 4 bars of 4/4 | 8 s |
| 8 bars of 4/4 | 16 s |
| 16 bars of 4/4 | 32 s |
| 32 bars of 4/4 | 64 s |
| 1 bar of 3/4 | 1.5 s |
| 1 bar of 6/8 | 1.5 s |
| 1 bar of 7/8 | 1.75 s |
| 1 bar of 5/4 | 2.5 s |
Samples per beat at 120 BPM
| Rate | Per beat | Per 4/4 bar |
|---|---|---|
| 44.1 kHz | 22,050 | 88,200 |
| 48 kHz | 24,000 | 96,000 |
| 96 kHz | 48,000 | 192,000 |
Sample rate times 60, divided by 120.
What music is 120 BPM?
Dance tempo (120 to 139 BPM). This is the core dance music range. Steady four to the floor club music clusters here, and DJs often mix within a few BPM of it, so tracks at this tempo are easy to blend with each other.
Typical tempo ranges that include 120 BPM: Afrobeats, Pop, Rock, Disco and nu disco, House.
Half time: 60 BPM, in the typical range of Ballads, Reggae, R&B. Double time: 240 BPM, faster than the genre ranges listed here.
A track can be written at one tempo and felt at the other, so a song at 120 BPM may be counted as 60 or 240 in a DAW or DJ software. Ranges are typical only; plenty of songs sit outside them.
Work at 120 BPM
The BPM and Delay Time Calculator does this math for any tempo, including decimals, with tap tempo and milliseconds back to BPM. All free, in your browser.
Nearby tempos
Questions about 120 BPM
How many milliseconds is a beat at 120 BPM?
A quarter note beat at 120 BPM lasts 500 ms, which is 60,000 divided by 120. An eighth note is 250 ms and a sixteenth note is 125 ms.
What delay time should I use at 120 BPM?
For a quarter note echo set 500 ms, for a dotted eighth set 375 ms and for an eighth note triplet set about 166.67 ms. If your delay has a tempo sync mode, picking the note value there gives the same timing.
How long is one bar at 120 BPM?
One bar of 4/4 at 120 BPM lasts 2 seconds, so 8 bars take 16 seconds and 16 bars take 32 seconds. A bar of 3/4 lasts 1.5 seconds.
Is 120 BPM fast or slow?
Dance tempo (120 to 139 BPM). Typical ranges that include 120 BPM: Afrobeats, Pop, Rock, Disco and nu disco, House. Half time is 60 BPM and double time is 240 BPM.