Question re BPM

[dbvirago]

I've read several articles lately discussing a song and the tempo is described as something like 114 half notes/228 quarters per minute.

Isn't simply 228 BPM? Why the variation and does it affect the tempo? Is the intention to set the metronome at 114 and play on that beat?

[b1j]

A beat is typically understood or to mean one quarter note. Qtr notes/min = bpm.

[JackC1]

Most times you're right because a lot of pop music is in simple meter and bpm is just same as the bottom number in the time signature, i.e. 4/4 bpm is quarter note. However, for compound meters, the bpm is usually is a dotted note, e.g. 3/8 time the bpm is usually a dotted quarter note.

Generally, I like the bpm to be clearly indicated by a note value rather than "bpm"; but for simple time, it doesn't matter that much.

[b1j]

Sometimes on sheet music you see a note symbol, like a quarter or eighth, and “= 120”. Then there’s no doubt.

When I’ve needed to enter a bpm on my recordings, I just default to a quarter note. But then I don’t write in 3/8.

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by dbvirago

I've read several articles lately discussing a song and the tempo is described as something like 114 half notes/228 quarters per minute.

Isn't simply 228 BPM? Why the variation and does it affect the tempo? Is the intention to set the metronome at 114 and play on that beat?

Couple of possible reasons:

It's pretty hard to tap your foot at 228. Just easier to tap at 114. If you're playing with others, it may be easier to synchronize everyone to 114 than 228, even tho you're playing the notes at the same speed. Your sync point, where you're all tapping your foot will just be slower, and possibly more together.

Some music "feels" half-time. Listen to the groove. At what speed to do tap your foot?

A slightly different example is 6/8 time. The time signature tells you an 8th note gets one beat. But most of the time people "feel" 6/8 time "in 2", so you are tapping your foot on beats 1 and 4: 1 2 3 4 5 6, basically thinking of triplets: Trip-el-let, Trip-el-let. So someone might write the BPM for 6/8 as 8th=240, or as dotted-quarter=80.

Even something in 4/4 can be the same, since you might feel the groove in half time, in 2.

You can go the other way, too. I notice a lot of young performers these days tapping their foot or otherwise moving to double time! They're feeling the music as if the groove is on the 8th notes, which again, gives you a different feel.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by b1j

A beat is typically understood or to mean one quarter note. Qtr notes/min = bpm.

Most often, yes. But strictly, only when the time signature has 4 on the bottom.

In compound time signatures: 6/8, 9/8, 12/8, the beat value is the dotted quarter (i.e. 1/3 of the rate of the 8th notes.)

In signatures with 2 on the bottom, the half-note is the beat. These are quite common, written as either 2/2 or "cut time" - that's the big "C" instead of the numbers, but with a vertical line through the C. ("C" on its own stands for "common time", 4/4).

It's common for cut time to be subjective, and this example sounds like one of those: the 1/4-note is very fast, and the 1/2-note rate is more comfortable. You could set the metronome to either.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by dbvirago

I've read several articles lately discussing a song and the tempo is described as something like 114 half notes/228 quarters per minute.

Isn't simply 228 BPM? Why the variation and does it affect the tempo? Is the intention to set the metronome at 114 and play on that beat?

Set it how you like, whichever is easiest to follow.

It would be similar to 4/4 @ 114 bpm, where you might (in some circumstances) set the metronome to click on the 8ths at 228.

The speed of the song is the same. But there is a common practice in jazz, when tempos are fast, of feeling them in half-time. Exactly as here: if the 1/4-note beat races along as 228, you'll feel more relaxed - and play better - if you feel it as 1/2-notes at 114. Playing 8th notes at 228 is the same as playing 16ths at 114, but 16ths at 114 feels less stressful, less frantic.

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by dbvirago

I've read several articles lately discussing a song and the tempo is described as something like 114 half notes/228 quarters per minute.

Isn't simply 228 BPM? Why the variation and does it affect the tempo? Is the intention to set the metronome at 114 and play on that beat?

You are correct! Sometimes they list double or half of the normal bpm for a song. There are times with a drum machine where knowing this information is helpful.

- Glenn