How to Check the BPM on My Mac

You can use iTunes to check the BPM of an audio track on a Mac.

Some digital audio files contain information on the song or clip's musical properties, like beats per minute. The iTunes application, which is available as a free download for Mac users, is capable of reading the BPM information for a song and displaying it in a separate column. If you want to know the BPM of a song before using it in a project for a composition program like Garageband, you can import it into iTunes and check the BPM reading.

Things You'll Need

• Mac running OS X 10.5 or later
• iTunes 10 or later

Instructions

1. Click on the "iTunes" icon in the dock at the bottom of the screen.

2. Open the "File" menu at the top of the screen and choose the "Add to Library" command.

3. Select the audio file for which you want to check the BPM, then press the "Open" button to import it into your iTunes library.

4. Highlight the "Music" tab on the left side of the iTunes window underneath the "Library" heading.

5. Open the "View" menu, and choose "View Options."

6. Check the box next to "Beats Per Minute" in the pop-up window that appears.

7. Press the "OK" button to save the settings and add a column for BPM to the iTunes window.

Tips & Warnings

• You can rearrange the "BPM" column in your iTunes grid by dragging and dropping the header label to another location.

References

• Apple Support: View Options