Swing Timing Calculator
Swing redistributes the time within a beat between a pair of eighth notes, lengthening the first and shortening the second. The amount is set as a swing percentage: 50 percent is straight, 66.7 percent is triplet swing, and 75 percent is a hard shuffle. This calculator converts a tempo and swing percentage into the long and short eighth-note durations in milliseconds and the long-to-short ratio, so you can match a groove on hardware that only accepts millisecond delay or shuffle values.
Swing timing formula
beat ms = 60000 / BPM
long eighth ms = beat ms * (swing% / 100)
short eighth ms = beat ms - long eighth ms
swing ratio = long eighth / short eighth
The beat is one quarter note. Swing percentage is the fraction of that beat given to the first (long) eighth note; the remainder goes to the second (short) eighth. Equal split (50 percent) is straight time.
Swing reference settings
- 50 percent: straight eighths, ratio 1 to 1.
- 66.7 percent: triplet swing, ratio 2 to 1, common in jazz and shuffle.
- 75 percent: hard shuffle, ratio 3 to 1 (dotted eighth plus sixteenth).
- Light swing settings between 54 and 60 percent suit funk and hip-hop grooves.
- Swing affects only the eighth-note pair; the beat and tempo stay fixed.
Swing timing: frequently asked questions
What does swing percentage mean?
Swing percentage is the share of a beat given to the first of a pair of eighth notes. At 50 percent the two eighths are equal (straight). At 66.7 percent the first eighth gets two-thirds of the beat, producing the classic triplet-feel swing. Higher percentages push toward a dotted-eighth and sixteenth feel.
How do you calculate swing note durations?
First find the beat length: 60,000 / BPM milliseconds for a quarter note. The long eighth equals the beat times the swing percentage divided by 100. The short eighth is the beat minus the long eighth. The swing ratio is the long divided by the short.
What swing percentage gives triplet swing?
A swing percentage of 66.7 percent gives a long-to-short ratio of 2 to 1, which is the triplet-based swing common in jazz and shuffle grooves. The long eighth lands where the first note of an eighth-note triplet pair would sit.
What is a hard shuffle swing percentage?
A 75 percent setting gives a 3 to 1 ratio, the dotted-eighth plus sixteenth feel of a hard shuffle. Many drum machines label swing from 50 to 75 percent for this reason.
Does swing change the overall tempo?
No. Swing redistributes time within each beat between the two eighth notes; the beat itself, and therefore the tempo and bar length, are unchanged. Only the placement of the off-beat eighth shifts.
Official sources
- National Institute of Standards and Technology: SI units and the second.
- Library of Congress: jazz and rhythm references.
Reviewed by the CalculatorHub team, edited by James Graham, 16 June 2026. See our methodology.