The Rolling Stones · Beggars Banquet

Sympathy for the Devil

Sympathy for the Devil is in G sharp minor at 113.9 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

114 BPM · Moderatomedian of 291 analyses · 108.1–116.5 across the middle eight tenths
Key
G♯ minor5 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
38%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
291people who ran the extractor
One beat
526.8milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
439.5Hz · -2 cents from A 440
Dynamics
3.54dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.862Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.229Essentia'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

291 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Fewer than half of them — 38% — put it in G sharp minor, a key signature of 5 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 291 readings; 30% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 108.1 to 116.5 BPM.

At 113.9 BPM one beat lasts 526.8 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 131.7 ms and a dotted eighth 395.1 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 57 BPM, counted twice as fast 227.8. A score would mark that Moderato, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 439.5 Hz, which is 2 cents below 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 3.54 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 0.862 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 sharp minor; 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♯ minor

Each of these differs from G♯ minor 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 114 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note42107.10.47
Half note21053.60.95
Dotted quarter1.5790.21.27
Quarter note (one beat)1526.81.9
Quarter triplet0.667351.22.85
Dotted eighth0.75395.12.53
Eighth note0.5263.43.8
Eighth triplet0.333175.65.7
Dotted sixteenth0.375197.55.06
Sixteenth note0.25131.77.59
Sixteenth triplet0.16787.811.39
Thirty-second note0.12565.815.19

Half time 57 BPM · double time 227.8 BPM. Every row is one beat (526.8 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Rock With YouMichael JacksonG♯ minor114BPM
  2. Get Down (You’re the One for Me)Backstreet BoysG♯ minor113BPM
  3. This Is Not AmericaDavid Bowie / Pat Metheny GroupG♯ minor115BPM
  4. That Was YesterdayForeignerG♯ minor115BPM
  5. I Want You Back*NSYNCG♯ minor112BPM
  6. Beauty School DropoutFrankie AvalonG♯ minor112BPM
  7. WonderbreadDanny BrownG♯ minor117BPM
  8. Graveyard TrainCreedence Clearwater RevivalG♯ minor117BPM
  9. Give It to MeTimbaland feat. Nelly Furtado & Justin TimberlakeG♯ minor111BPM
  10. Lonely Is the WordBlack SabbathG♯ minor110BPM

Recordings in G sharp minor, ordered by how near their tempo is to 114 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in G sharp minorAll songs at 114 BPMG♯ minor at 110–119 BPMThe Rolling Stones

MusicBrainz collapses 519 recording ids into this one. Recording id b71b7b4a-4019-4bc7-a56d-ea5d578a049e.