How to change Tempo in Audacity (speed / BPM) [Different cases]

Here you can learn all the possibilities to change the tempo, the speed or the bpm of a track changing and without changing the pitch. All this with the free audio editing software Audacity.

Tempo refers to the speed or rhythm of a piece of music, and is usually measured in beats per minute (BPM). Let’s see how to change it!
I recommend that you check the table of contents, to see what kind of change you are interested in.

Table of Contents

1. How to change Tempo in Audacity (affecting the pitch)

Once you have the track loaded in Audacity, first of all you will have to select the whole track to apply the change over the whole file, you can do it with the keyboard shortcuts:

Control + A (Windows) or Cmd + A (Mac)

Important: I recommend you to download the latest version of Audacity, it’s totally free!

STEP 1: Go to Change Speed Effect

In the top menu, go to:

Effect -> Pitch and Tempo -> Change Speed

STEP 2: Change the tempo

If you don’t need to change the track to a specific BPM, just move the percentage bar or set the percentage change numerically and listen to the preview.

STEP 3: Apply and Export

When you are ok with the change, just click on apply.

Then export the file as you normally do:

File -> Export -> (Select the format you want to export it in)

2. How to change Tempo without Changing the Pitch in Audacity

As in the previous case, select the entire track: Control + A (Windows) or Cmd + A (Mac).

STEP 1: Go to Change Tempo Effect

Effect -> Pitch and Tempo -> Change Tempo

STEP 2: Change the Tempo

You can change the tempo by moving the percentage bar, by changing the bpm, or by the duration of the track. Select the way that suits your needs:
* to do it with the BPM method, I recommend that you check the following section.

Keep in mind that the more change you apply, the lower the quality of the audio will be.

If you want the best possible quality, remember to check the “✅ Use high quality stretching (slow)” box.

STEP 3: Apply and Export

When you are ok with the change, just click on apply.

Export the file as you normally do:

File -> Export -> (Select the format you want to export it in)

3. How to change to a specific BPM (changing and without changing the pitch)

Let’s see this case:

STEP 1: Know the BPM of the track

First of all you need to know the exact BPM of the track. Unfortunately this information is not provided by Audacity, so I propose 2 ways to get it:

Search on Google: “(song name) BPM”. If you cannot find the information use method 2.
Download Virtual DJ for free. This software can analyze the track by itself, just load it on a deck and it will give you the result.

STEP 2: Go to Change Tempo Effect

With the whole track selected (as in the previous cases), in the top menu go to:

Effect -> Pitch and Tempo -> Change Tempo

STEP 3: Set the New BPM

In the example case, the original track is at 129 BPM.

Manually set the current BPM. And then set the new BPM you want, in my case 110 BPM.

At this point you have 2 options:

If you want the BPM change without changing pitch, just click on Apply, and then export.
If you want the BPM change changing the pitch, continue to step 4.

STEP 4: Change BPM changing Pitch (optional)

Continuing the previous step, instead of applying the change, copy the percentage change data:

Now cancel the change, close the effect, and open in the top menu:

Effect -> Pitch and Tempo -> Change Speed

And paste the percent change in the change speed window:

Finally, apply the change!

And that’s it, you have the track at the chosen BPM, altering also the pitch. Now just export:

File -> Export -> (Select the format you want to export it in)

4. How to change to a specific Pitch by changing Tempo

As in the previous cases selects the entire track: Control + A (Windows) or Cmd + A (Mac)

STEP 1: Go to Change Pitch Effect

In the top menu, open:

Effect -> Pitch and Tempo -> Change Pitch

STEP 2: Set the new Pitch

Set the new pitch by changing the semitones or by the suggested scale changes. You can see it more in deep in the article of how to change pitch in Audacity.
In the example I want to change -3 semitones.