What BPM is Acid house?

Acid house has a median tempo of 126 BPM. Half of all acid house sits between 124 and 128 BPM, measured across 148 analysed tracks. The genre's editorial range is 118–128 BPM; our catalog measures slightly tighter.

House · 1980s — present

Measured 27 September 2026 from 148 acid house tracks in our catalog. 9 tempo outliers removed by a Tukey IQR fence. 1 tracks were detected at half tempo and corrected to their written BPM. 4 tracks (2.7%) carry a tempo our detectors flagged for review; they are included in these figures.

Method: how we correct half-time BPM detection — why fast genres get stored at half speed, and the rule we apply before publishing a median.

Median BPM

126

Middle half

124–128

9 in 10

121–131

Mean

126

Tracks measured

148

BPM distribution

148 tracks · median 126 BPM · most of the catalog sits between 124 and 128 BPM · 9 outliers removed by IQR filter.

Median Middle half (Q1–Q3) Edge of range

How tightly does acid house hold its tempo?

Half of all acid house sits inside a 4 BPM window, 124 to 128. Widen to nine tracks in ten and the band runs 121–131 BPM. No house genre charted below spreads wider — Progressive house holds to 2 BPM.

10th percentile 121 · lower quartile 124 · median 126 · upper quartile 128 · 90th percentile 131 BPM

Why this tempo?

Acid house settled into the 118–128 BPM range because it emerged from house music's foundational 4/4 kick at around 120 BPM, but the genre's hypnotic character demanded space for the TB-303's squelch to breathe and mutate across 8- and 16-bar phrases. The tempo sits fast enough to sustain dancefloor momentum and lock with the kick's repetitive thump, yet slow enough that the acid line's filter sweeps and resonance peaks register as distinct melodic events rather than blur. Equipment constraints mattered too: the 303's sequencer worked intuitively at these speeds, and early acid tracks needed sufficient headroom for the synth to dominate without drowning the rhythm. The range also accommodates both stripped, minimal acid (lower end) and more frenetic, bass-heavy variants (upper end).

Where your track fits

Three reference points along the BPM axis for acid house, with what the position implies about the track.

124BPM

Groovy side

Lower quartile — patient builds, deeper grooves, long blends.

126BPM

Genre centre

Median — what most tracks in the catalog actually sound like.

128BPM

Peak-time edge

Upper quartile — pushes the floor, bridges into faster neighbours.

Where acid house sits on the tempo axis

Median BPM of acid house compared to neighbouring genres in the same family. Closer medians mean easier cross-genre transitions.

120124128

Popular acid house tracks at the median BPM

Catalog tracks within ±2 BPM of 126, sorted by popularity.

Top acid house artists in the catalog

Names you’ll meet often when building acid house sets.

Dominant Camelot keys

Where acid house producers cluster harmonically. 53% minor · 47% major

8B8.8%9B8.8%6A8.1%8A8.1%5A7.4%2A6.8%10B4.7%11A4.7%

Producing acid house — tempo notes

›Set your 303 sequencer to 16 steps at 124 BPM; this locks the acid line to quarter-note subdivisions, letting filter modulation land on predictable beat boundaries.
›Sidechain your 303 to the kick with a fast attack and 200–300 ms release at 122–126 BPM to maintain groove clarity without losing the squelch's presence on off-beats.
›Keep breakdowns at 120 BPM minimum; dropping below 118 risks losing the hypnotic trance state that defines acid's dancefloor function.

Mixing acid house sets — tempo notes

›When blending acid tracks, aim for a 32-bar phrase boundary at 120–124 BPM to avoid jarring tempo shifts; acid's repetitive structure demands clean, predictable transitions.
›Use EQ to isolate the 303's peak resonance (typically 1–4 kHz) and ride it during mixes; at 124 BPM, a well-timed filter sweep can anchor beat-matching across tracks with slightly different groove feels.
›Maintain kick-to-303 separation by high-passing the acid line above 80 Hz; at 118–128 BPM, muddiness between low-end elements kills the percussive clarity acid requires.

All 126 BPM tracks EDM genre BPM chart BPM for every genre

FAQ

What BPM is Acid house?⌄

Has acid house's BPM changed over time?⌄

We don't have enough year-stamped catalog tracks yet to draw a confident evolution curve. The current median is 126 BPM.

At what BPM should I produce a acid house track?⌄

Anchor your kick at 126 BPM for the genre centre. 128 BPM is the upper-quartile edge if you're producing for peak-time. Below 124 BPM you're outside the middle half of what we measured.

What Camelot keys are most common in acid house?⌄

The dominant Camelot keys in our acid house catalog are 8B, 9B, 6A. 53% of tracks are in minor keys (A); 47% major (B).

DJ terms on this page: BPM · Phrase · Energy curve · Four-on-the-floor · Full glossary

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