Guides / Intro length
How long should an intro be?
It depends on who's listening. A DJ needs room to mix in. A streaming listener needs a reason not to skip. Here are typical intro lengths by genre, in bars and seconds.
The short answer
| Made for | Intro | Why |
|---|---|---|
| DJs and clubs | 16 to 32 bars | Gives a DJ room to blend in from the previous track. |
| Streaming and radio | 4 to 8 bars | Gets to the vocal or hook before people skip. |
Intro length by genre
From the 87 structures in our library that open with an intro. Seconds use each structure's usual tempo.
| Genre | Most common | Range | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rock | 8 bars | 4 to 8 bars | 8 to 16 sec |
| Pop | 8 bars | 4 to 8 bars | 8 to 16 sec |
| Electronic | 16 bars | 8 to 16 bars | 13 to 31 sec |
| Hip-Hop | 8 bars | 8 bars | 14 to 23 sec |
| R&B | 8 bars | 4 to 8 bars | 11 to 21 sec |
| Jazz | 8 bars | 8 bars | 16 to 30 sec |
| Folk | 8 bars | 4 to 8 bars | 10 to 19 sec |
| Country | 8 bars | 8 bars | about 17 sec |
| Classical | 16 bars | 16 bars | about 38 sec |
| Metal | 8 bars | 8 to 16 bars | 11 to 55 sec |
| Blues | 4 bars | 4 to 8 bars | 11 to 21 sec |
| Reggae | 8 bars | 8 to 16 bars | 19 to 51 sec |
| Latin | 8 bars | 8 bars | 10 to 20 sec |
Electronic intros, structure by structure
| Structure | Intro | Tempo | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| House | 16 bars | 124 BPM | 0:31 |
| Techno | 16 bars | 132 BPM | 0:29 |
| Trance | 16 bars | 138 BPM | 0:28 |
| Drum & Bass | 16 bars | 174 BPM | 0:22 |
| Dubstep | 8 bars | 140 BPM | 0:14 |
| Deep House | 16 bars | 122 BPM | 0:31 |
| Future Bass | 8 bars | 150 BPM | 0:13 |
How to choose
- Making it for DJs? Keep the intro mostly drums and percussion with little melody, so it doesn't clash with the track being mixed out. Change something every 8 bars so the DJ can hear where they are.
- Making it for streaming? Put something memorable in the first few seconds: a hook, a vocal chop, a sound that's yours.
- Not sure? Start with 16 bars. It's easy to cut an intro down later and awkward to stretch one.
Work out your own
Intro length in seconds = bars × 4 × 60 ÷ BPM (in 4/4). So 16 bars at 174 BPM is 16 × 240 ÷ 174 = 22.1 seconds. Or skip the math with the song length calculator.
Stuck on what comes after the intro? Here's how to turn a loop into a full song.
See the whole arrangement, not just the intro
arrangementLab lays out every section of your track with bar counts, timings and a production tip for each. Drop in a loop and it builds the arrangement around it.
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