Free tool from Cole Davis · Better Bass Lessons
What Tempo Is That?
Tap along with any recording and read the tempo. Then check it against the standard tempo ranges, so you know whether that ballad is actually a ballad.
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▶ Side A · Tap TempoBBL-T05
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TAP FOUR TIMES
TAP
Taps0
Steadiness-
Half / double-
Tempo ranges worth knowing
- Ballad sits around 50 to 75. If you tapped 120 on a ballad, you were tapping eighths.
- Medium swing is roughly 120 to 180, which is most of the Real Book.
- Up tempo starts around 200 and the quarter note stops being where you count.
- Steadiness is the spread between your own taps. Over 30 ms and the reading is a guess.
Your next step
Knowing the tempo is the start. Keeping it when the drummer pushes is what The Locked-In Bassist is for.
The Locked-In Bassist Swing With Any Drummer
Cole Davis, with Aaron Seeber on drumsSwing with any drummer. Even the one who throws a fill across the bar line.
- The 2-minute test that tells you whether your time is really yours, or borrowed.
- What to do in the very next bar when the drummer throws a fill across the bar line.
- What to do the moment the drummer starts to drag.
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