BPM by Genre: The Complete DJ Tempo Chart

BPM — beats per minute — is the single most useful number on any track. It tells you how fast a record is, which genre lane it lives in, and whether two tunes will beat-match cleanly. This chart maps the typical tempo of every genre a DJ is likely to play. Drag the marker to any BPM and see exactly what you can reach for.

BPM by Genre: The Full Reference Table

Below is the same data as a quick lookup, grouped by family. These are the ranges where the bulk of tracks in each genre sit — the tempos you'll actually meet in a DJ set, not the absolute extremes a producer might reach for. The “sweet spot” is the if-in-doubt tempo for that genre.

What Is BPM, Really?

BPM counts how many beats land in one minute. A 128 BPM track has 128 kicks (or the equivalent pulse) every 60 seconds. Faster numbers feel more urgent and energetic; slower numbers feel relaxed. That's why genres cluster into tempo lanes — the BPM is baked into the feel. House and disco sit in the 120s because that pace matches an elevated but sustainable dancing heart rate; drum and bass lives near 174 because that frantic energy is the whole point.

Why BPM Matters for Mixing

When you blend one track into another, their beats need to line up. If the tempos are far apart, the kicks fight each other and the mix sounds like a stumble. Get them close and the two tracks lock into one groove. As a rule of thumb:

• Within ~2% — a perfect match, beats align effortlessly.
• Up to ~4% — comfortable; a small pitch nudge and you're locked.
• Up to ~8% — possible, but pitching this hard starts to audibly change the tracks.
• Beyond ~8% — reach for a transition trick (drop on a breakdown, cut, or half/double-time) rather than a straight blend.

This is why the tempo lanes in the chart matter: house, tech house and melodic techno all cluster around 124–126, so you can drift between them without ever touching the pitch. BPM is only half the story, though — two tracks at the same tempo can still clash if their keys fight. That's where harmonic mixing and the Camelot wheel come in.

Using Tempo to Shape a Set

Great sets rarely sit at one BPM the whole way through — they climb. A common arc starts in the low 120s, builds through the mid 120s into the 128–132 range at the peak, then eases back down. Moving up the tempo lanes is one of the cleanest ways to raise energy without jarring the floor. Our guide to DJ set energy flow shows how to map that curve, and the set length calculator tells you how many tracks you need to fill it.

Plan tempo and key together: order tracks so the BPM drifts smoothly up or down and each key is a compatible next step. Do both and every transition feels inevitable.

Can You Mix Across Tempo Lanes?

Absolutely — that's where DJing gets fun. The trick is finding tracks that share a mathematical pulse even when their numbers differ. A 140 BPM dubstep track and a 70 BPM hip-hop track are the same tempo, halved — they sit perfectly together. Trap and drum and bass both lean on this half-time feel, which is why the chart flags them. To bridge bigger gaps, drop the new track during a breakdown when there's no beat to clash, or use your software's key-locked pitch to stretch tempo without changing pitch.

Let SetFlow Read the Tempos for You

Knowing the lanes is one thing; sorting hundreds of tracks by BPM and key by hand is another. SetFlow imports your Rekordbox, Traktor or Serato library, reads the BPM and key of every track, and builds a complete running order that climbs through the tempo lanes in key — for any set length, in seconds. You pick the vibe; it handles the maths.

Try SetFlow free, or learn the manual workflow in our guide to building a harmonically mixed set.

Frequently Asked Questions