Ray Charles · The Birth of Soul

A Bit of Soul

A Bit of Soul is in G major at 92.9 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

93 BPM · Andantemedian of 144 analyses · 92.9–93.1 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
144people who ran the extractor
One beat
645.9milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
434.9Hz · -20 cents from A 440
Dynamics
4.99dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.626Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.218Essentia'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

144 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 144 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 92.9 BPM one beat lasts 645.9 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 161.5 ms and a dotted eighth 484.4 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 46.5 BPM, counted twice as fast 185.8. A score would mark that Andante, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 434.9 Hz, which is 20 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 4.99 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 0.626 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 93 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note42583.40.39
Half note21291.70.77
Dotted quarter1.5968.81.03
Quarter note (one beat)1645.91.55
Quarter triplet0.667430.62.32
Dotted eighth0.75484.42.06
Eighth note0.5322.93.1
Eighth triplet0.333215.34.65
Dotted sixteenth0.375242.24.13
Sixteenth note0.25161.56.19
Sixteenth triplet0.167107.69.29
Thirty-second note0.12580.712.39

Half time 46.5 BPM · double time 185.8 BPM. Every row is one beat (645.9 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Follow You Follow MeGenesisG major93BPM
  2. Hand in My PocketAlanis MorissetteG major92BPM
  3. NightclubbingIggy PopG major92BPM
  4. Beyond BeliefElvis Costello & The AttractionsG major92BPM
  5. Dressed in BlackDepeche ModeG major94BPM
  6. You’ve Got to Hide Your Love AwayThe BeatlesG major92BPM
  7. Yet Another Movie / Round and AroundPink FloydG major94BPM
  8. Skies on FireAC/DCG major94BPM
  9. Joy to the WorldNeil DiamondG major94BPM
  10. Round HereCounting CrowsG major94BPM

Recordings in G major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 93 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in G majorAll songs at 93 BPMG major at 90–99 BPMRay Charles

MusicBrainz collapses 9 recording ids into this one. Recording id d6b97620-e753-4b02-b9be-839a0c4b44e6.