20–400 BPM, any time signature, five accent levels, subdivisions, swing, count-in, speed and gap trainers.
40 BPM means 40 beats every minute: one beat every 1.5 seconds (1500 ms), or 0.67 beats a second. In classical terms it is Grave, very slow and solemn (25–49 BPM).
You often hear tempos around 40 BPM in very slow ballads, ambient music, and slow 12/8 blues counted in dotted beats. The metronome above is already set to 40 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) | 6000 ms | 10 |
| Half note | 3000 ms | 20 |
| Dotted quarter | 2250 ms | 26.67 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1500 ms | 40 |
| Dotted eighth | 1125 ms | 53.33 |
| Eighth note | 750 ms | 80 |
| Eighth-note triplet | 500 ms | 120 |
| Sixteenth note | 375 ms | 160 |
Set a delay pedal to 1125 ms for the popular dotted-eighth echo, or 1500 ms for a quarter-note echo, and it sits in time at 40 BPM.
Slow tempos are harder than they sound: the gaps between clicks are long, so rushing shows straight away. Count the eighth notes in your head (“1 and 2 and”) or turn on eighths in the metronome, and let each strum or note land exactly with the click. Sixteenth notes at 40 BPM are 2.67 notes a second, a comfortable speed for learning clean alternate picking.
One beat every 1.5 seconds (1500 ms), 0.67 beats a second. Its Italian tempo marking is Grave, very slow and solemn.
Tempos around 40 BPM are common in very slow ballads, ambient music, and slow 12/8 blues counted in dotted beats.
In 4/4 a bar has four beats, so it lasts 6 seconds. In 3/4 it lasts 4.5 seconds.
Yes. It is slow enough to play cleanly and listen to your timing. When it feels easy three times in a row, go up 4 to 8 BPM.