The Beatles · The Beatles Collection, Volume 5: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Paperback Writer
Paperback Writer is in G major at 155.8 beats per minute.
Tempo
156 BPM · Allegromedian of 242 analyses · 155.7–156 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- G major1 sharp · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 98%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 242people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 385.1milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 434.7Hz · -21 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 3.8dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.787Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.01Essentia'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
242 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 98% — put it in G major, a key signature of 1 sharp. The tempo printed above is the median of the 242 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 155.8 BPM one beat lasts 385.1 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 96.3 ms and a dotted eighth 288.8 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 77.9 BPM, counted twice as fast 311.6. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 434.7 Hz, which is 21 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 3.8 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 0.787 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 156 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 1540.4 | 0.65 |
| Half note | 2 | 770.2 | 1.3 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 577.7 | 1.73 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 385.1 | 2.6 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 256.7 | 3.9 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 288.8 | 3.46 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 192.6 | 5.19 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 128.4 | 7.79 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 144.4 | 6.92 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 96.3 | 10.39 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 64.2 | 15.58 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 48.1 | 20.77 |
Half time 77.9 BPM · double time 311.6 BPM. Every row is one beat (385.1 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Blaze of GloryJon Bon JoviG major156BPM
- New LifeDepeche ModeG major156BPM
- Teen Age RiotSonic YouthG major156BPM
- Lonely PeopleAmericaG major156BPM
- Rocky RaccoonThe BeatlesG major156BPM
- EverlongFoo FightersG major156BPM
- Take It on the RunREO SpeedwagonG major155BPM
- Life Goes On2PacG major157BPM
- Running Gun BluesDavid BowieG major155BPM
- Wild ThingsAlessia CaraG major155BPM
Recordings in G major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 156 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in G majorAll songs at 156 BPMG major at 150–159 BPMThe Beatles
MusicBrainz collapses 99 recording ids into this one. Recording id f28b465d-7adb-479d-a363-0c49368e59d3.