What BPM is amapiano?
Amapiano is 110-115 BPM, and 112 is a fair single number. The machine above is playing amapiano at 112 BPM - press Space to hear it, then move the tempo and listen for where it stops sounding like amapiano.
Why amapiano lives at 110-115 BPM
Amapiano is 110-115 BPM, slower than almost any other dance music, and it is slow on purpose. The genre's instrument is the log drum - a deep, pitched, rubbery bass hit - and it plays a melody in the gaps the kick leaves. That melody is three or four notes across a bar answering from the offbeats, and at 112 each of those notes has room to sound and decay; at house tempo the same phrase would be a bassline, not a hook.
The South African house lineage it came from - kwaito at 100-110, then the deep house end of afro house at 118-122 - explains the range: amapiano sits between the two. There is a small amount of swing, 6-12, mostly felt in the shaker that runs underneath the whole time. Below 108 it starts to sound like kwaito or a slow jam; above 116 the log drum phrase gets crowded and it tips towards afro house.
112 BPM in milliseconds
For setting delay times, checking a sample's length, or programming by ear: at 112 BPM one bar of 4/4 is 2,143 ms and a 16th note is 134 ms.
| At 112 BPM | Length | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| One bar (4/4) | 2,143 ms | 0.47 Hz |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 536 ms | 1.87 Hz |
| Dotted 8th | 402 ms | 2.49 Hz |
| 8th note | 268 ms | 3.73 Hz |
| 8th-note triplet | 179 ms | 5.60 Hz |
| 16th note | 134 ms | 7.47 Hz |
| 32nd note | 67 ms | 14.93 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. Amapiano with its nearest neighbours by tempo:
| Genre | BPM | Typical | Felt pulse | Swing | Family |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Funk | 95-115 | 104 | as written | 10-16 | Funk and soul |
| Afrobeats | 100-115 | 110 | as written | 8-14 | African |
| 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 |
Frequently asked
Why is amapiano so slow?
For the log drum. A log drum phrase is melodic, not rhythmic, and melodies need space; 112 BPM gives each note a beat's worth of decay. Speed this page's kit to 124 and listen to the log drum turn into a run.
What BPM is private school amapiano?
The same window, mostly 110-113, with softer drums and more piano. The tempo is not what changes between the sub-styles; the mix is.
Can I make amapiano 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 amapiano 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 disco?110-125 BPM
- What BPM is afro house?118-126 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.