Don McLean · American Pie
American Pie
American Pie is in G major at 138.7 beats per minute.
Tempo
139 BPM · Allegromedian of 549 analyses · 138.6–139.4 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- G major1 sharp · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 99%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 549people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 432.6milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 438.2Hz · -7 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 6.24dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.622Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.13Essentia'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
549 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 99% — put it in G major, a key signature of 1 sharp. The tempo printed above is the median of the 549 readings; 99% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 138.7 BPM one beat lasts 432.6 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 108.1 ms and a dotted eighth 324.4 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 69.4 BPM, counted twice as fast 277.4. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 438.2 Hz, which is 7 cents below concert A at 440 Hz — the sort of drift a tape machine or a slightly different mastering leaves behind. That is a fact about this transfer of the music, not about how it was played.
The dynamic complexity of the recording measures 6.24 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 0.622 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 G 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 G major
Each of these differs from G 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 139 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 1730.4 | 0.58 |
| Half note | 2 | 865.2 | 1.16 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 648.9 | 1.54 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 432.6 | 2.31 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 288.4 | 3.47 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 324.4 | 3.08 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 216.3 | 4.62 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 144.2 | 6.94 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 162.2 | 6.16 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 108.1 | 9.25 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 72.1 | 13.87 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 54.1 | 18.49 |
Half time 69.4 BPM · double time 277.4 BPM. Every row is one beat (432.6 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- A Hard Day's NightThe BeatlesG major139BPM
- The 1975The 1975G major139BPM
- Dirty White BoyForeignerG major139BPM
- Reason to BelieveRod StewartG major139BPM
- Fly by NightRushG major139BPM
- Any Way You Want ItJourneyG major138BPM
- Take It EasyEaglesG major139BPM
- Just the Way You AreBilly JoelG major139BPM
- Lips Are MovinMeghan TrainorG major139BPM
- Carouselblink‐182G major139BPM
Recordings in G major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 139 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in G majorAll songs at 139 BPMG major at 130–139 BPM
MusicBrainz collapses 48 recording ids into this one. Recording id 208b91ec-3f23-40dd-a815-698061635a34.