The Beatles · Something New

Slow Down

Slow Down is in C major at 165.9 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

166 BPM · Vivacemedian of 258 analyses · 137.6–166.1 across the middle eight tenths
Key
C majorno sharps and no flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
88%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
258people who ran the extractor
One beat
361.7milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
440.8Hz · +3 cents from A 440
Dynamics
3.57dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.884Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.17Essentia'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

258 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 88% — put it in C major, a key signature of no sharps and no flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 258 readings; 83% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 137.6 to 166.1 BPM.

At 165.9 BPM one beat lasts 361.7 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 90.4 ms and a dotted eighth 271.2 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 83 BPM, counted twice as fast 331.8. A score would mark that Vivace, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 440.8 Hz, which is 3 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 3.57 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 0.884 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 166 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41446.70.69
Half note2723.31.38
Dotted quarter1.5542.51.84
Quarter note (one beat)1361.72.77
Quarter triplet0.667241.14.15
Dotted eighth0.75271.23.69
Eighth note0.5180.85.53
Eighth triplet0.333120.68.3
Dotted sixteenth0.375135.67.37
Sixteenth note0.2590.411.06
Sixteenth triplet0.16760.316.59
Thirty-second note0.12545.222.12

Half time 83 BPM · double time 331.8 BPM. Every row is one beat (361.7 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Carry That WeightThe BeatlesC major166BPM
  2. Learning to FlyPink FloydC major166BPM
  3. God Knows I’m GoodDavid BowieC major166BPM
  4. Seaside RendezvousQueenC major166BPM
  5. Mein Herz brenntRammsteinC major166BPM
  6. RococoArcade FireC major166BPM
  7. Truly Madly DeeplySavage GardenC major167BPM
  8. DilemmaNelly featuring Kelly RowlandC major167BPM
  9. New Genious (Brother)GorillazC major167BPM
  10. A Pair Of Brown EyesThe PoguesC major165BPM

Recordings in C major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 166 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in C majorAll songs at 166 BPMC major at 160–169 BPMThe Beatles

MusicBrainz collapses 37 recording ids into this one. Recording id b2b50082-0bd1-4702-9a95-3499a4e5781b.