TempoPeek

The Rolling Stones · Beggars Banquet

Prodigal Son

Prodigal Son is in E major at 108.3 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

108 BPM · Moderatomedian of 136 analyses · 107–110.2 across the middle eight tenths
Key
E major4 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
87%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
136people who ran the extractor
One beat
554milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
434.2Hz · -23 cents from A 440
Dynamics
3.59dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.849Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.234Essentia'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

136 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 87% — put it in E major, a key signature of 4 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 136 readings; 87% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 107 to 110.2 BPM.

At 108.3 BPM one beat lasts 554 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 138.5 ms and a dotted eighth 415.5 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 54.2 BPM, counted twice as fast 216.6. A score would mark that Moderato, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 434.2 Hz, which is 23 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 3.59 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 0.849 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 E 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 E major

Each of these differs from E 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 108 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note42216.10.45
Half note211080.9
Dotted quarter1.58311.2
Quarter note (one beat)15541.81
Quarter triplet0.667369.32.71
Dotted eighth0.75415.52.41
Eighth note0.52773.61
Eighth triplet0.333184.75.42
Dotted sixteenth0.375207.84.81
Sixteenth note0.25138.57.22
Sixteenth triplet0.16792.310.83
Thirty-second note0.12569.314.44

Half time 54.2 BPM · double time 216.6 BPM. Every row is one beat (554 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Voodoo People (Dust Brothers remix)The ProdigyE major108BPM
  2. New Kid in TownEaglesE major108BPM
  3. Cruel SummerBananaramaE major108BPM
  4. I Knew You Were Waiting (for Me)Aretha Franklin with George MichaelE major108BPM
  5. PhotographEd SheeranE major108BPM
  6. Heart’s Done TimeAerosmithE major108BPM
  7. Aún existe amorCéline DionE major108BPM
  8. Midlife CrisisFaith No MoreE major108BPM
  9. I Want to Break FreeQueenE major109BPM
  10. Waterloo SunsetThe KinksE major108BPM

Recordings in E major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 108 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in E majorAll songs at 108 BPME major at 100–109 BPMThe Rolling Stones

MusicBrainz collapses 100 recording ids into this one. Recording id 32142f16-313d-4ee8-9337-facf8f382739.