What BPM is afro house?
Afro house is 118-126 BPM, and 122 is a fair single number. The machine above is playing afro house at 122 BPM - press Space to hear it, then move the tempo and listen for where it stops sounding like afro house.
Why afro house lives at 118-126 BPM
Afro house is 118-126 BPM, a shade slower than house at large, and most of it lives at 120-124. The tempo is house's, but the reason it sits at the slow end is the percussion: afro house builds its groove out of interlocking congas, bells, shakers and rim patterns that need room to be heard as separate parts, and above 126 they blur into one texture. At 122 a 16th note is 123 milliseconds - enough for a conga slap and a shaker to register as two events.
There is swing here, unlike straight house: 8-14, just enough to make the percussion sound played rather than quantised, with the kick staying dead on the beat underneath. The South African end of the style, closer to amapiano, drifts down towards 115; the European club end, closer to tech house, drifts up to 125-126. The kit on this page is at 122 with 12 swing.
122 BPM in milliseconds
For setting delay times, checking a sample's length, or programming by ear: at 122 BPM one bar of 4/4 is 1,967 ms and a 16th note is 123 ms.
| At 122 BPM | Length | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| One bar (4/4) | 1,967 ms | 0.51 Hz |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 492 ms | 2.03 Hz |
| Dotted 8th | 369 ms | 2.71 Hz |
| 8th note | 246 ms | 4.07 Hz |
| 8th-note triplet | 164 ms | 6.10 Hz |
| 16th note | 123 ms | 8.13 Hz |
| 32nd note | 61 ms | 16.27 Hz |
The genres either side
Tempo windows overlap, and what separates neighbours is usually swing and where the snare falls rather than the number itself. Afro house with its nearest neighbours by tempo:
| Genre | BPM | Typical | Felt pulse | Swing | Family |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amapiano | 110-115 | 112 | as written | 6-12 | Dance |
| Disco | 110-125 | 120 | as written | 8-14 | Funk and soul |
| Afro House | 118-126 | 122 | as written | 8-14 | Dance |
| House | 120-128 | 124 | as written | 0-8 | Dance |
| UK Garage | 130-135 | 133 | as written | 30-40 | Dance |
Frequently asked
Is afro house slower than house?
Slightly. House spans 120-128 and afro house 118-126, so the two overlap almost entirely, but afro house's centre is about two beats lower and its swing is never quite zero.
What BPM is amapiano compared to afro house?
Amapiano is 110-115, ten beats slower. The log drum bassline needs that space; at afro house tempo the same phrase turns into a run.
Can I make afro house at a different tempo?
Yes, and the edges of the window are where the interesting records live. The point of the range is that inside it a listener hears afro house before they hear anything else; outside it, the same drum pattern reads as a neighbouring style. Drag the tempo on this page to hear the crossover happen.
Go deeper
Every genre's tempo
- What BPM is lo-fi hip hop?70-85 BPM
- What BPM is hip hop?80-100 BPM
- What BPM is boom bap?88-94 BPM
- What BPM is reggaeton?88-100 BPM
- What BPM is funk?95-115 BPM
- What BPM is afrobeats?100-115 BPM
- What BPM is amapiano?110-115 BPM
- What BPM is disco?110-125 BPM
- What BPM is house?120-128 BPM
- What BPM is UK garage?130-135 BPM
- What BPM is techno?128-140 BPM
- What BPM is the Amen break?136-137 BPM
- What BPM is trap?130-150 BPM · half-time
- What BPM is drill?138-145 BPM · half-time
- What BPM is phonk?130-160 BPM · half-time
- What BPM is dubstep?138-142 BPM · half-time
- What BPM is jungle?160-175 BPM
- What BPM is drum and bass?170-176 BPM
- What BPM is neurofunk?172-176 BPM
BAP Studio is inspired by classic 16-pad sampler and drum-machine workflows. It is an independent project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Akai Professional, Roland, or any other manufacturer.
Made by Max Berggren.