how to play tempo
Tempo is a five-round listening game that tests how accurately you can identify beats per minute by ear.
what is bpm?
BPM means beats per minute. A higher BPM sounds faster, while a lower BPM sounds slower. Tempo asks you to estimate that number after hearing a short series of ticks.
playing a round
- Press start. The lamp pulses while a short beat sample plays.
- Listen for the speed. Focus on the space between ticks instead of trying to count the exact BPM immediately.
- Wait for the sample to stop. The tempo slider unlocks and displays a starting guess.
- Move the slider. Drag toward slower or faster. In normal mode, moving the slider starts a preview of your guessed BPM.
- Lock in your guess. The review shows the real BPM, your guess, your percentage difference, and the points earned.
- Compare the lamps. Orange represents the original beat and green represents your guess.
normal mode
You hear eight ticks before guessing. Once you move the slider, the green lamp previews your current guess. Use that preview to compare the remembered beat with your estimate.
hard mode
You hear four ticks and receive no preview while guessing. The review replays only the original BPM, so your answer must come entirely from memory.
endless mode
Endless uses the same eight-tick sample and guess preview as normal mode. Your run continues while each guess stays within the current accuracy limit. The limit is 8% for rounds 1–5, 7% for rounds 6–10, 6% for rounds 11–15, and 5% from round 16 onward.
scoring
Each round is worth up to 100 points. A perfect five-round game scores 500, while an endless total keeps growing until the run ends. Points are based on proportional accuracy, so similar relative misses are treated consistently across slow and fast tempos.
listening tips
- Tap a finger quietly while the sample plays to hold its rhythm in memory.
- Decide whether the beat feels generally slow, medium, or fast before choosing an exact number.
- Practice in normal mode before switching to hard mode.