Aretha Franklin · Soul '69
Today I Sing the Blues
Today I Sing the Blues is in D major at 120.6 beats per minute.
Tempo
121 BPM · Allegromedian of 157 analyses · 120.5–120.6 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- D major2 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 100%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 157people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 497.5milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 439.7Hz · -1 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 6.76dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.158Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 0.985Essentia's danceability, 0–3
Source: AcousticBrainz, dump of 2022-06-23 (CC0) · MusicBrainz core data, 2026-09-17 (CC0) · how each number is measured. Measured up to 23.06.2022 — AcousticBrainz stopped collecting in 2022, so nothing released after that date is here.
What the numbers say
157 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 100% — put it in D major, a key signature of 2 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 157 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 120.6 BPM one beat lasts 497.5 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 124.4 ms and a dotted eighth 373.1 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 60.3 BPM, counted twice as fast 241.2. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 439.7 Hz, which is 1 cents below concert A at 440 Hz — close enough to standard that a tuner would not argue. That is a fact about this transfer of the music, not about how it was played.
The dynamic complexity of the recording measures 6.76 dB: that is how far the level wanders from its own average, so a small number means a loud, flat master and a large one means a recording that still breathes. Its average loudness is 0.158 on Essentia's 0-to-1 scale, which is not decibels and is not comparable to a streaming service's number.
10 other recordings here are in D major; the ones listed below are the closest in tempo.
Beats per bar are not in this dataset. AcousticBrainz's analysis reports a tempo, a key and a loudness, and no time signature at all, so this page does not print one — a 4/4 here would be a guess dressed as a measurement.
Keys that fit with D major
Each of these differs from D major by at most one accidental, or shares its tonic. That is the whole of what a mixing wheel encodes; here the relations are named instead of numbered.
Delay times at 121 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 1990 | 0.5 |
| Half note | 2 | 995 | 1 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 746.3 | 1.34 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 497.5 | 2.01 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 331.7 | 3.01 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 373.1 | 2.68 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 248.8 | 4.02 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 165.8 | 6.03 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 186.6 | 5.36 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 124.4 | 8.04 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 82.9 | 12.06 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 62.2 | 16.08 |
Half time 60.3 BPM · double time 241.2 BPM. Every row is one beat (497.5 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Cover MeBruce SpringsteenD major121BPM
- Aladdin Sane (1913–1938–197?)David BowieD major120BPM
- On Melancholy HillGorillazD major120BPM
- Raspberry BeretPrince and The RevolutionD major121BPM
- I Don’t Want to Miss a ThingAerosmithD major121BPM
- Proud MaryCreedence Clearwater RevivalD major121BPM
- The Bells of RhymneyThe ByrdsD major121BPM
- Good to Me as I Am to YouAretha FranklinD major120BPM
- WarningGreen DayD major121BPM
- Anything GoesAC/DCD major121BPM
Recordings in D major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 121 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in D majorAll songs at 121 BPMD major at 120–129 BPMAretha Franklin
MusicBrainz collapses 21 recording ids into this one. Recording id e54081bf-b0b1-4d11-a9df-a4124ad58230.