TempoPeek

Kansas · Leftoverture

Carry On Wayward Son

Carry On Wayward Son is in C major at 127 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

127 BPM · Allegromedian of 207 analyses · 126.8–128.3 across the middle eight tenths
Key
C majorno sharps and no flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
98%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
207people who ran the extractor
One beat
472.4milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
441.8Hz · +7 cents from A 440
Dynamics
3.45dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.871Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.079Essentia'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

207 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 98% — put it in C major, a key signature of no sharps and no flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 207 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 126.8 to 128.3 BPM.

At 127 BPM one beat lasts 472.4 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 118.1 ms and a dotted eighth 354.3 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 63.5 BPM, counted twice as fast 254. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 441.8 Hz, which is 7 cents above 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 3.45 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 0.871 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 C 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 C major

Each of these differs from C 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 127 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41889.80.53
Half note2944.91.06
Dotted quarter1.5708.71.41
Quarter note (one beat)1472.42.12
Quarter triplet0.6673153.18
Dotted eighth0.75354.32.82
Eighth note0.5236.24.23
Eighth triplet0.333157.56.35
Dotted sixteenth0.375177.25.64
Sixteenth note0.25118.18.47
Sixteenth triplet0.16778.712.7
Thirty-second note0.12559.116.93

Half time 63.5 BPM · double time 254 BPM. Every row is one beat (472.4 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. The Other SideAerosmithC major127BPM
  2. I Feel LoveDonna SummerC major127BPM
  3. The Night They Drove Old Dixie DownThe BandC major127BPM
  4. Iris (Hold Me Close)U2C major127BPM
  5. J’attendaisCéline DionC major126BPM
  6. Girl Can’t Help ItJourneyC major126BPM
  7. Who Made WhoAC/DCC major126BPM
  8. 5:15The WhoC major126BPM
  9. Just Can’t Get Enough (Schizo mix)Depeche ModeC major128BPM
  10. I Gotta FeelingThe Black Eyed PeasC major128BPM

Recordings in C major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 127 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in C majorAll songs at 127 BPMC major at 120–129 BPM

MusicBrainz collapses 50 recording ids into this one. Recording id 1aea1980-37a8-41b2-bb78-526c94bb428d.