> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.gridshift.studio/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Tempo, Key and Time Signature

> Every project has one tempo and one key and scale, which the grid, the keyboard layouts, Warp and the chord track follow. Run Change Tempo or Change Key from the Command Palette, or click the project title.

## Set the tempo

Press `⌘K`, run **Change Tempo**, type the BPM and press `Return`. Or click the project title in the toolbar and drag the **BPM** field up or down, or click it to type.

## Set the key and scale

<video src="/videos/inspector-title.mp4" poster="/videos/inspector-title.jpg" aria-label="A click on the project title opens Key & Scale and Grid in a popover; Root Note is changed from E to A" title="A click on the project title opens Key & Scale and Grid in a popover; Root Note is changed from E to A" muted loop playsInline preload="none" />

Click the project title in the toolbar and pick the **Root Note** and **Scale** under **Key & Scale**. Or run Command Palette → **Change Key** and **Change Scale**.

## Halve or double the tempo

Point at the **BPM** field and click **÷2** or **×2** beside it, for a half-time or double-time feel at the same groove.

## Good to know

* **The line under the project title shows both**, for example `172 BPM · E Minor`.
* **Clips keep their place in bars and beats.** A tempo change moves the music, not the arrangement; samples that follow the project tempo are re-stretched ([Time Stretching](/timing/time-stretching.md)).
* **A key change moves what is linked to it.** Samples whose pitch follows the project key shift by the smallest interval, and [chord track](/sounds/chord-track.md) clips are rewritten; the whole change is one undo step.
* **The key decides what the letter keys play** in the Scale and Follow layouts ([Play with the Keyboard](/work-fast/play-with-the-keyboard.md)), which piano-roll rows are lit, and where [Pitch Snap](/edit/pitch-snap.md) snaps to.
* **Every project is in 4/4.** There is no control to change the time signature; a project imported from an Ableton Live Set keeps the set's.

> **Details**
>
> * The same **Key & Scale** and **Grid** sections are on the Inspector's Project tab (`⌘2`). **Grid** also holds the project [groove](/timing/groove.md) and its amount.
> * Tempo runs from 20 to 999 BPM. New projects start at **174 BPM** unless your [default project](/projects/default-project.md) says otherwise.
> * In the BPM field, hold `⌥` while dragging for fine steps and `⇧` for coarse ones. A running loop picks up the new tempo when you let go.
> * Root notes are spelled with sharps (`C#`, `F#`). Scales: **Major**, **Minor**, **Dorian**, **Phrygian**, **Lydian**, **Mixolydian**, **Locrian**, **Harmonic Minor**, **Melodic Minor**, **Pentatonic Maj**, **Pentatonic Min** and **Blues**.
> * A project that has never had a key set plays in the key last in use, **F Minor** after a fresh launch, and records it the first time you pick one.
> * The metronome and the count-in count bars in the project's time signature ([Metronome](/record/metronome.md)).
> * The project's sample rate is in the Project tab's **Audio** section: 44.1, 48, 96 or 192 kHz. Command Palette → **Change Sample Rate** sets it too.


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