What BPM is disco?
Disco is 110-125 BPM, and 120 is a fair single number. The machine above is playing disco at 120 BPM - press Space to hear it, then move the tempo and listen for where it stops sounding like disco.
Why disco lives at 110-125 BPM
Disco is 110-125 BPM, and 120 is the number most people mean. It rose from funk's tempo through the 1970s: the Philadelphia records of 1973-75 sat at 110-118, the Chic and Bee Gees era at 115-122, and by 1979 the New York club sound had pushed to 122-126, which is where house picked it up. Beyond 125 it becomes Hi-NRG, the sped-up 1980s descendant that ran 125-135 and lost the swing.
What sets the tempo is the four-on-the-floor kick played by a drummer with an open hat on every offbeat - the pattern a human can hold steady for eight minutes at 120 and struggles with at 130. There is swing, 8-14, because these were bands, and the hat and tambourine lean slightly late against a dead-straight kick. The groove above is at 120 with 12 swing; turn the swing to zero and the tempo up to 124 and it is a house record.
120 BPM in milliseconds
For setting delay times, checking a sample's length, or programming by ear: at 120 BPM one bar of 4/4 is 2,000 ms and a 16th note is 125 ms.
| At 120 BPM | Length | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| One bar (4/4) | 2,000 ms | 0.50 Hz |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 500 ms | 2.00 Hz |
| Dotted 8th | 375 ms | 2.67 Hz |
| 8th note | 250 ms | 4.00 Hz |
| 8th-note triplet | 167 ms | 6.00 Hz |
| 16th note | 125 ms | 8.00 Hz |
| 32nd note | 62 ms | 16.00 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. Disco with its nearest neighbours by tempo:
| Genre | BPM | Typical | Felt pulse | Swing | Family |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| House | 120-128 | 124 | as written | 0-8 | Dance |
Frequently asked
Is disco the same tempo as house?
Almost. Disco is 110-125 and house 120-128; house took disco's fast end and kept going. A 122 BPM record could be either - the difference is a drummer with swing versus a 909 without.
What BPM is nu-disco?
Usually 115-122, deliberately at the slow, swung end of the disco window so it sits apart from house.
Can I make disco 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 disco 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 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.