According to embodiments, techniques for using continuous wavelet transforms and spectral transforms to identify pulse rates from a photoplethysmographic (PPG) signal are disclosed. According to embodiments, candidate pulse rates of the PPG signal may be identified from a wavelet transformed PPG signal and a spectral transformed PPG signal. A pulse rate may be determined from the candidate pulse rates by selecting one of the candidate pulse rates or by combining the candidate pulse rates. According to embodiments, a spectral transform of a PPG signal may be performed to identify a frequency region associated with a pulse rate of the PPG signal. A continuous wavelet transform of the PPG signal at a scale corresponding to the identified frequency region may be performed to determine a pulse rate from the wavelet transformed signal.