Steely Dan · Gaucho

Hey Nineteen

Hey Nineteen is in D major at 119.7 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

120 BPM · Moderatomedian of 160 analyses · 119.5–120.5 across the middle eight tenths
Key
D major2 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
100%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
160people who ran the extractor
One beat
501.3milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
441Hz · +4 cents from A 440
Dynamics
6.88dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.891Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.672Essentia'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

160 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 100% — put it in D major, a key signature of 2 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 160 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 119.7 BPM one beat lasts 501.3 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 125.3 ms and a dotted eighth 375.9 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 59.9 BPM, counted twice as fast 239.4. A score would mark that Moderato, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 441 Hz, which is 4 cents above concert A at 440 Hz — close enough to standard that a tuner would not argue. That is a fact about this transfer of the music, not about how it was played.

The dynamic complexity of the recording measures 6.88 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 0.891 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 D 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 D major

Each of these differs from D 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 120 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note420050.5
Half note21002.51
Dotted quarter1.5751.91.33
Quarter note (one beat)1501.32
Quarter triplet0.667334.22.99
Dotted eighth0.75375.92.66
Eighth note0.5250.63.99
Eighth triplet0.333167.15.99
Dotted sixteenth0.3751885.32
Sixteenth note0.25125.37.98
Sixteenth triplet0.16783.511.97
Thirty-second note0.12562.715.96

Half time 59.9 BPM · double time 239.4 BPM. Every row is one beat (501.3 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Dancing in the StreetVan HalenD major120BPM
  2. Put Your Head on My ShoulderMichael BubléD major120BPM
  3. The Game of LoveSantana featuring Michelle BranchD major120BPM
  4. You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ YetBachman–Turner OverdriveD major120BPM
  5. Love Me TenderElvis PresleyD major120BPM
  6. The Bewlay BrothersDavid BowieD major119BPM
  7. VisionsEaglesD major120BPM
  8. Chapter 24Pink FloydD major119BPM
  9. Up With the BirdsColdplayD major120BPM
  10. Last Night on EarthGreen DayD major120BPM

Recordings in D major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 120 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in D majorAll songs at 120 BPMD major at 110–119 BPMSteely Dan

MusicBrainz collapses 22 recording ids into this one. Recording id 887f6d95-2b0b-41a7-b2c4-16d26433d613.