AC/DC · Let There Be Rock

Whole Lotta Rosie

Whole Lotta Rosie is in C sharp minor at 156 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

156 BPM · Vivacemedian of 186 analyses · 155.9–161.8 across the middle eight tenths
Key
C♯ minor4 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
66%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
186people who ran the extractor
One beat
384.6milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
454.7Hz · +57 cents from A 440
Dynamics
3.23dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.889Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.091Essentia'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

186 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. A bare majority of them — 66% — put it in C sharp minor, a key signature of 4 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 186 readings; 83% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 155.9 to 161.8 BPM.

At 156 BPM one beat lasts 384.6 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 96.2 ms and a dotted eighth 288.5 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 78 BPM, counted twice as fast 312. A score would mark that Vivace, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 454.7 Hz, which is 57 cents above concert A at 440 Hz — far enough that playing along at 440 Hz will sound wrong. That is a fact about this transfer of the music, not about how it was played.

The dynamic complexity of the recording measures 3.23 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 0.889 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 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 C♯ minor

Each of these differs from C♯ 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 156 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41538.50.65
Half note2769.21.3
Dotted quarter1.5576.91.73
Quarter note (one beat)1384.62.6
Quarter triplet0.667256.43.9
Dotted eighth0.75288.53.47
Eighth note0.5192.35.2
Eighth triplet0.333128.27.8
Dotted sixteenth0.375144.26.93
Sixteenth note0.2596.210.4
Sixteenth triplet0.16764.115.6
Thirty-second note0.12548.120.8

Half time 78 BPM · double time 312 BPM. Every row is one beat (384.6 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Revolution RockThe ClashC♯ minor156BPM
  2. I. Flight of the NavigatorChildish GambinoC♯ minor155BPM
  3. All My LovingThe BeatlesC♯ minor155BPM
  4. Search and DestroyIggy and The StoogesC♯ minor153BPM
  5. Violet HillColdplayC♯ minor152BPM
  6. Children of the GraveBlack SabbathC♯ minor151BPM
  7. Liquor Store BluesBruno Mars feat. Damian MarleyC♯ minor151BPM
  8. It’s Not Up to YouBjörkC♯ minor162BPM
  9. Gwely MernansAphex TwinC♯ minor162BPM
  10. Spinning the WheelGeorge MichaelC♯ minor150BPM

Recordings in C sharp minor, ordered by how near their tempo is to 156 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in C sharp minorAll songs at 156 BPMC♯ minor at 150–159 BPMAC/DC

MusicBrainz collapses 215 recording ids into this one. Recording id 7578ce92-8b92-4232-b754-84bc1cb47bf4.