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80 BPM Metronome
A metronome running at 80 beats per minute — the tempo of unhurried hip hop, lo-fi and slow rock, and one of the most comfortable speeds to practise at.
80 BPM 750.0 ms per beat Andante
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Generate drum loops with Drumloop AIWhat 80 BPM is for
Eighty beats per minute is where a pulse starts feeling genuinely natural. It sits inside the range the brain tracks most easily, so you can hold it internally between clicks without drifting — which makes it a good tempo to test yourself at. Play four bars with the metronome, mute it for four bars, and see whether you are still with it when it returns.
Musically it is a hip hop tempo before anything else. Slower boom bap, most lo-fi, and a good deal of 90s rap sit between 80 and 95, and the swing that defines those styles is easiest to hear here. It is also a common rock ballad tempo and the natural speed for a slow twelve-bar blues shuffle in 12/8, where each beat divides into three.
For drummers, 80 BPM is the tempo where the halftime feel becomes a compositional tool rather than a trick. A backbeat on beat 3 instead of beats 2 and 4 turns 80 BPM into a felt 40, which is the foundation of a lot of heavy and downtempo writing. Switch this metronome to drum sounds to hear the difference between a straight backbeat and a halftime one at the same click speed. The free 80 BPM drum loop library has ready-made examples of both.
Where 80 BPM shows up
| Use | Detail |
|---|---|
| Lo-fi hip hop | The centre of the lo-fi range, usually with swung sixteenths. |
| Slow boom bap | Dusty, behind-the-beat drums with a heavy backbeat. |
| Blues shuffle | In 12/8, giving each beat a triplet feel. |
| Internal-clock testing | Slow enough to be a challenge, fast enough to hold. |
Note lengths at 80 BPM
Useful when you are setting a tempo-synced delay, an LFO rate or an envelope release at this tempo. The full calculator covers every note value including dotted and triplet variants.
| Note | Milliseconds | Per second |
|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 3000.0 | 0.33 |
| Half note | 1500.0 | 0.67 |
| Quarter note (beat) | 750.0 | 1.33 |
| Eighth note | 375.0 | 2.67 |
| Sixteenth note | 187.5 | 5.33 |
Genres that sit near 80 BPM
If you are writing at this tempo, these are the styles that live there naturally. Each one with a matching library links to free royalty-free loops.
| Genre | Range | Typical | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hip hop | 80–100 | 90 | Boom bap sits at the low end; modern rap creeps toward 100. |
| Boom bap | 85–95 | 90 | Swung 16ths and a heavy backbeat define the pocket. |
| Lo-fi | 70–90 | 80 | Deliberately behind the beat, often with swing. |
| R&B | 60–90 | 75 | Slow tempos with dense 16th-note hi-hat work. |
| Ballad | 60–80 | 70 | Slow enough that subdivisions carry the pulse. |
Frequently asked questions
Is 80 BPM slow?
It is moderately slow — andante, in classical terms, meaning "walking pace". It is slower than the 120 BPM most pop sits at, but faster than a ballad. In practice it feels relaxed rather than sluggish, which is why so much hip hop and lo-fi is written here.
What songs are 80 BPM?
A great deal of 90s hip hop, most lo-fi study beats, and many rock and soul ballads. Rather than matching a specific track, the useful thing to know is the range: 80 BPM is the slow end of hip hop and the fast end of a ballad. Use the BPM finder to check any track you have to hand.
Can I get drum loops at 80 BPM?
Yes. Drumloop AI generates original, royalty-free drum loops at exactly 80 BPM from a plain-English description. There is also a free 80 BPM drum loop library you can browse right now.
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Need a groove at 80 BPM?
Describe the beat in your head and Drumloop AI generates it — original, royalty-free, at exactly 80 BPM.