What BPM Is Each Genre? Tempo for House, Drum and Bass, Hip-Hop and More
Published October 15, 2026
When you’re setting a beat’s tempo or trying to work out a track’s tempo, BPM means “beats per minute.” A higher BPM means more beats each minute, though a drum pattern can make a track feel slower or faster than its BPM suggests.
As a starting point, house commonly sits around 115–130 BPM, hip-hop spans a much wider range, and drum and bass often runs at 160–180 BPM. These ranges are starting points, not rules. Tempo helps shape a genre, but sounds and rhythms matter too. Soundroo can help turn a tempo and style description into a track through an AI agent.
Typical BPM ranges by genre
Published BPM ranges vary most for genres with many styles of their own. The figures below are useful starting points, not limits every track follows.
| Genre | Useful BPM reference | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| House | 115–130 BPM; 120–128 BPM is a narrower working range | A starting point near 124 BPM is common in DJ tempo charts. |
| Tech house | 122–128 BPM | A focused range within house. |
| Techno | About 120–150 BPM | Production references often use a narrower range near 120–125 BPM. |
| Trance | 120–140 BPM | A broad range shared with some techno references. |
| Hip-hop | Published references vary | Around 80–100 BPM is a useful starting range, but styles vary widely. |
| R&B | About 60–80 BPM in one DJ chart | Treat this as a broad guide, not a fixed genre rule. |
| Dub | 60–90 BPM | A slower reference range than most dance styles. |
| Dubstep | 135–145 BPM; often counted at 140 BPM | The beat can feel half as fast, near 70 BPM. |
| Trap | Often written around 130–150 BPM | A 140 BPM beat commonly has a half-time feel near 70 BPM. |
| Drum and bass | 160–180 BPM | Many tracks cluster around 170–176 BPM, with 174 BPM a familiar reference. |
| Moombahton | About 108 BPM | The style grew from slowing a 128 BPM track to 108 BPM. |
Ableton’s tempo and genre guide gives broad ranges including house at 115–130 BPM, hip-hop at 60–100 BPM, dub at 60–90 BPM, and drum and bass at 160–180 BPM. Other charts narrow some styles or set different boundaries. For example, house tempo charts put house around 120–128 BPM and tech house around 122–128 BPM.
Hip-hop is especially hard to reduce to one range. Published references vary: one places hip-hop at 60–100 BPM, another at 90–110 BPM, and another offers 80–100 BPM. A 90 BPM beat is a useful place to start, but the drums, flow, and subgenre should guide the final choice.
Why 140 BPM can feel like 70
In some genres, the written BPM counts the beat faster than the main snare pattern feels. In a half-time groove, the snare lands on beat three rather than beats two and four. That spaces the main snare hits farther apart, so the beat feels slower while hi-hats and other subdivisions continue at the written tempo.
This explains common references such as 140/70 BPM for trap and dubstep, and 174/87 BPM for drum and bass. DJ software may show either the faster or slower count, depending on how it detects the beat. Half-time and double-time examples include pairs such as 70/140, 85/170, and 87.5/175 BPM.
When a tempo reading seems wrong, tap along to the main snare or backbeat, then compare that count with the software’s number. If the numbers differ by about a factor of two, the track may simply be counted at half or double tempo.
Use BPM as a starting point, not a genre test
Tempo alone does not define a genre. A 124 BPM track could be house, tech house, or another dance style; the drum pattern, bass sound, and arrangement help distinguish them. Likewise, a slow-feeling trap beat can carry a written tempo of 140 BPM.
For a quick writing exercise, choose a BPM and build a groove around it. Try 124 BPM with a steady house kick, or 174 BPM with a fast breakbeat. For trap or dubstep, try 140 BPM and place the snare to create a half-time feel. If the result feels rushed or heavy, adjust the tempo and listen again; use the chart as a guide.
Tempo ranges for some styles shift over time. Hard techno references, for example, include much faster tempos than older or narrower techno guides. Pop spans too many sounds and eras for one BPM figure to describe it well.
Make a genre-and-tempo track with Soundroo
Soundroo is a free, open-source tool that lets an AI agent make music. To start, describe the genre, BPM, and groove you want, then ask the agent to use Soundroo. For example, you could request house at 124 BPM with a steady kick and a warm bass line, or drum and bass at 174 BPM with a fast breakbeat.
Paste this instruction into an AI agent and replace the bracketed description:
Make me a track: [what it should sound like, or “surprise me”]. Use Soundroo for it. If you have Soundroo tools, use them. If you can run commands, clone https://github.com/vincentsch/soundroo, read its AGENTS.md and follow the steps. If you can’t do either, send me to https://soundroo.com/connect
ChatGPT and Claude connect through Soundroo’s remote connector; setup steps are at soundroo.com/connect. Coding agents that run commands use the toolkit on your computer. The custom prompt builder lets you choose styles and track count. It also has settings for length and spoken words.
The agent writes each track as a musical score that lists its tempo, instruments, notes, patterns, and sections. Soundroo’s JavaScript engine generates the sounds and turns the score into audio. The agent cannot hear the result, so listen to the preview and ask for a specific change, such as “faster,” “less piano,” or “keep the bass line.” The agent revises the score and renders another version.
Soundroo is free, but the AI agent you use is a separate service and may have its own pricing. Chat-based agents make shorter, simpler pieces and return a private preview link that expires after a day unless you publish the track.