20–400 BPM, any time signature, five accent levels, subdivisions, swing, count-in, speed and gap trainers.
170 BPM means 170 beats every minute: one beat every 0.35 seconds (353 ms), or 2.83 beats a second. In classical terms it is Vivace, lively and fast (156–175 BPM).
You often hear tempos around 170 BPM in punk, ska, medium-up jazz and metal. The metronome above is already set to 170 BPM in 4/4: press Start, and change the time signature, accents, subdivisions or sound if your song needs it.
| Note | Length | Per minute |
|---|---|---|
| Whole note (one bar of 4/4) | 1412 ms | 42.5 |
| Half note | 706 ms | 85 |
| Dotted quarter | 529 ms | 113.33 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 353 ms | 170 |
| Dotted eighth | 265 ms | 226.67 |
| Eighth note | 176 ms | 340 |
| Eighth-note triplet | 118 ms | 510 |
| Sixteenth note | 88.2 ms | 680 |
Set a delay pedal to 265 ms for the popular dotted-eighth echo, or 353 ms for a quarter-note echo, and it sits in time at 170 BPM.
170 BPM is fast. Rather than starting here, use the speed trainer: begin around 128 BPM (three quarters of the target) and add 4 BPM every 4 bars until you reach 170. Sixteenth notes at this tempo are 11.33 notes a second.
One beat every 0.35 seconds (353 ms), 2.83 beats a second. Its Italian tempo marking is Vivace, lively and fast.
Tempos around 170 BPM are common in punk, ska, medium-up jazz and metal.
In 4/4 a bar has four beats, so it lasts 1.41 seconds. In 3/4 it lasts 1.06 seconds.
It is a performance tempo for most players. Work up to it with the speed trainer, starting around 128 BPM.