Simon & Garfunkel · Bridge Over Troubled Water
Song for the Asking
Song for the Asking is in B major at 153.8 beats per minute.
Tempo
154 BPM · Allegromedian of 219 analyses · 153–154.4 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- B major5 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 98%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 219people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 390.1milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 441.3Hz · +5 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 5.09dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.459Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 0.933Essentia'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
219 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 98% — put it in B major, a key signature of 5 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 219 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 153 to 154.4 BPM.
At 153.8 BPM one beat lasts 390.1 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 97.5 ms and a dotted eighth 292.6 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 76.9 BPM, counted twice as fast 307.6. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 441.3 Hz, which is 5 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 5.09 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 0.459 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 B 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 B major
Each of these differs from B 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 154 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 1560.5 | 0.64 |
| Half note | 2 | 780.2 | 1.28 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 585.2 | 1.71 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 390.1 | 2.56 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 260.1 | 3.85 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 292.6 | 3.42 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 195.1 | 5.13 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 130 | 7.69 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 146.3 | 6.84 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 97.5 | 10.25 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 65 | 15.38 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 48.8 | 20.51 |
Half time 76.9 BPM · double time 307.6 BPM. Every row is one beat (390.1 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Whatcha See Is Whatcha GetThe DramaticsB major153BPM
- Skinny LoveBon IverB major153BPM
- People Need LoveABBAB major155BPM
- November RainGuns N’ RosesB major155BPM
- CataractsThriceB major155BPM
- You Found MeThe FrayB major152BPM
- EyeThe Smashing PumpkinsB major156BPM
- I’m YoursJason MrazB major151BPM
- Hate & WarThe ClashB major151BPM
- Love ManOtis ReddingB major151BPM
Recordings in B major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 154 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in B majorAll songs at 154 BPMB major at 150–159 BPMSimon & Garfunkel
MusicBrainz collapses 22 recording ids into this one. Recording id da0af943-1123-474a-8b4e-45c36700ec6d.