What speed should you learn Morse code at?
Learn each Morse character at a brisk speed, somewhere around 15 to 20 words per minute, and make the overall pace slow by adding space between the characters instead of slowing the characters down. That way every letter sounds, from your first day, the way it will when you are fluent, and the extra space gives you time to recognize it. As you get better, you take the space away.
So the real answer is two numbers, not one. Here is what they mean and how to choose both.
Every Morse speed is really two speeds
Character speed is how fast the dits, dahs and the short gaps inside each character are sent. It decides what a letter sounds like.
Overall speed, also called effective speed, is how many standard words go by in a minute once all the gaps between characters and words are counted. It decides how much time you have to think.
With standard spacing the two are the same: 12 WPM means characters at 12 and gaps at their normal 3 and 7 units. With Farnsworth spacing the characters are sent at the higher speed and only the gaps between characters and words are stretched, so the overall speed drops. In this post a pair like 18/8 means characters at 18 WPM, overall at 8 WPM.
The arithmetic shows how different the two speeds feel. At 8 WPM overall, the word PARIS has to take 7.5 seconds. Sent at 18 WPM, its five letters take only about 2.1 seconds, so roughly 5.4 seconds of every PARIS is silence between letters and after the word. The letters are quick and complete; the pauses are long. Send the same word at a plain 8 WPM and the letters themselves stretch to over 4.6 seconds, with each dit a slow, separate beep.
Why fast characters beat slow ones
A letter sent at 18 WPM is a rhythm you hear in one piece. C, -.-., is dah-di-dah-dit, a single bouncing shape that lasts under three quarters of a second. Sent at 5 WPM, the same C is more than two and a half seconds of long and short beeps, and the easiest way to read it is to count: dah, dit, dah, dit, look it up.
Counting works at first, which is the trap. It gets you through the alphabet, and then it tends to stop working, because somewhere around 10 to 13 WPM the elements start to come faster than you can comfortably count them. The slow sounds you memorized do not match the fast ones, and you have to learn the letters again by their rhythm.
Learning the fast sound from the start skips that second round. It also changes what you practice. Instead of building a lookup table in your head, you build instant recognition: hear the shape, know the letter.
This is the idea behind the Koch method, devised by Ludwig Koch, a German psychologist, in the 1930s. Koch had learners hear characters at full speed from the very first lesson, start with only two characters, and add one more each time they copied about 90 percent correctly. The Koch method for learning Morse code, explained goes through it step by step. Farnsworth spacing applies the same principle to the gaps: keep the sound fast, slow the pace.
How fast is fast enough?
Fast enough that you cannot comfortably count the elements, and not so fast that the short characters blur together before you know them. For most purposes that lands between 15 and 20 WPM.
At 15 WPM a dit lasts 80 ms; at 18 WPM about 67 ms; at 20 WPM, 60 ms. All three are quick enough that H, ...., is a buzz you recognize rather than four beeps you tally. Much faster than 20 buys little at the start, and the extra speed is easy to add later.
These are starting points, not rules:
| Where you are | Character speed | Overall speed |
|---|---|---|
| Brand new to Morse | 15 to 20 WPM | 5 to 8 WPM |
| You learned slow letters and still count them | 15 to 18 WPM | Whatever lets you keep up, even 5 |
| You copy 10 WPM with standard spacing | 15 to 18 WPM | 10 WPM |
| You copy 15 WPM with standard spacing | 18 to 20 WPM | 15 WPM |
If you are in the second row, the first few sessions at a higher character speed will feel like going backwards. That is the old counting habit giving way. Stay with it: you already know the code, and what you are learning now is only its sound.
Choosing your overall speed
The overall speed is the dial you will turn most. Set it so you can recognize nearly every letter in the pause after it, before the next one arrives. If you miss a lot, add space by lowering the overall speed. Do not lower the character speed; that brings back the counting.
A low overall number is nothing to worry about. A learner at 18/5 who recognizes every letter instantly is in a far better position than one at a plain 10 who is counting each dit, and the 5 is the easy number to raise once recognition is solid.
When copying feels comfortable, raise the overall speed in small steps, shrinking the gaps until the two numbers meet. Only then raise the character speed. Raising your Morse speed: when to go faster, and by how much has a step-up plan.
Sending speed is a separate question
Everything above is about listening. When you send, especially on a straight key, you set the pace, and the goal is different: send at a speed you can keep even, with dahs three times as long as dits and gaps you can trust.
The same principle still helps. Key each character briskly and in one motion, then leave a generous pause before the next. That is Farnsworth spacing by hand, and it is far easier to copy than slow, drawn-out characters with tight gaps.
Keep your sending speed at or below your copying speed. On the air the other operator can only judge your copying speed by your sending and may reply just as fast, and you will want to read the reply. If someone sends too fast for you, QRS asks them to send more slowly.
If you practice on a Mac, Dot & Dash is set up this way from the first launch: a new install sends at 18 WPM with Farnsworth spacing at 8 WPM, and you can set the speed anywhere from 5 to 40 WPM with the spacing as a separate setting. When you key with the straight key it reads you at your own pace, learning the length of your dit, and each letter you key in a lesson shows the speed you keyed it at in WPM.
Questions
Should I learn Morse code at 5 WPM?
As an overall speed, 5 WPM is a fine place to start. Hear the characters themselves faster, around 15 to 20 WPM, and let the extra space between them make the pace slow.
What does a speed like 18/8 mean?
Characters sent at 18 WPM with extra time in the gaps between characters and words, so the overall pace is 8 WPM. The letters sound exactly as they would at 18 WPM; there is just more room around them.
Is 20 WPM too fast for a beginner?
As a character speed with plenty of spacing, no. It can feel quick at first, but the long gaps give you time to think, and the letters you learn will not need learning again later.
When should I stop using Farnsworth spacing?
When your overall speed has caught up with your character speed, the extra space is gone and you are copying at standard spacing. Farnsworth spacing: what it is and when to drop it covers that last step.