Jay‐Z · The Blueprint²: The Gift & The Curse
A Ballad for the Fallen Soldier
A Ballad for the Fallen Soldier is in F major at 165.9 beats per minute.
Tempo
166 BPM · Vivacemedian of 138 analyses · 165.9–166 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- F major1 flat · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 99%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 138people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 361.7milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 434.2Hz · -23 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 3.93dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.924Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.343Essentia'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
138 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 99% — put it in F major, a key signature of 1 flat. The tempo printed above is the median of the 138 readings; 99% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 165.9 BPM one beat lasts 361.7 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 90.4 ms and a dotted eighth 271.2 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 83 BPM, counted twice as fast 331.8. A score would mark that Vivace, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 434.2 Hz, which is 23 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 3.93 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 0.924 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 F 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 F major
Each of these differs from F 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 166 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 1446.7 | 0.69 |
| Half note | 2 | 723.3 | 1.38 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 542.5 | 1.84 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 361.7 | 2.77 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 241.1 | 4.15 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 271.2 | 3.69 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 180.8 | 5.53 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 120.6 | 8.3 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 135.6 | 7.37 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 90.4 | 11.06 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 60.3 | 16.59 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 45.2 | 22.12 |
Half time 83 BPM · double time 331.8 BPM. Every row is one beat (361.7 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Devil in My CarThe B‐52sF major166BPM
- 5 YearsBjörkF major166BPM
- Join TogetherThe WhoF major166BPM
- Free Fallin’Tom PettyF major167BPM
- Hasta mañanaABBAF major167BPM
- At LastEtta JamesF major165BPM
- The JokerSteve Miller BandF major165BPM
- Love Is a Losing GameAmy WinehouseF major165BPM
- Peace TrainCat StevensF major165BPM
- Pale Blue EyesThe Velvet UndergroundF major165BPM
Recordings in F major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 166 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in F majorAll songs at 166 BPMF major at 160–169 BPMJay‐Z
MusicBrainz collapses 1 recording id into this one. Recording id 36a6c20a-727f-4222-a9e6-4da42919587d.