TempoPeek

Alicia Keys · Songs in A minor

Why Do I Feel So Sad

Why Do I Feel So Sad is in E flat major at 163.8 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

164 BPM · Vivacemedian of 131 analyses · 163.7–163.8 across the middle eight tenths
Key
E♭ major3 flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
96%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
131people who ran the extractor
One beat
366.3milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
434.2Hz · -23 cents from A 440
Dynamics
3.73dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.839Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.309Essentia'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

131 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 96% — put it in E flat major, a key signature of 3 flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 131 readings; 98% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 163.8 BPM one beat lasts 366.3 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 91.6 ms and a dotted eighth 274.7 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 81.9 BPM, counted twice as fast 327.6. A score would mark that Vivace, 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 3.73 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 0.839 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 flat 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 164 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41465.20.68
Half note2732.61.37
Dotted quarter1.5549.51.82
Quarter note (one beat)1366.32.73
Quarter triplet0.667244.24.1
Dotted eighth0.75274.73.64
Eighth note0.5183.25.46
Eighth triplet0.333122.18.19
Dotted sixteenth0.375137.47.28
Sixteenth note0.2591.610.92
Sixteenth triplet0.16761.116.38
Thirty-second note0.12545.821.84

Half time 81.9 BPM · double time 327.6 BPM. Every row is one beat (366.3 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. You’re BeautifulJames BluntE♭ major164BPM
  2. In the GalleryDire StraitsE♭ major164BPM
  3. GreenbacksRay CharlesE♭ major164BPM
  4. Coronation DayTim DaviesE♭ major163BPM
  5. Don’t Dream It’s OverCrowded HouseE♭ major163BPM
  6. Bridge Over Troubled WaterSimon & GarfunkelE♭ major165BPM
  7. AmsterdamColdplayE♭ major163BPM
  8. Let’s Twist AgainChubby CheckerE♭ major163BPM
  9. Rock & Roll MusicChuck BerryE♭ major165BPM
  10. La BayamesaBuena Vista Social ClubE♭ major165BPM

Recordings in E flat major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 164 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in E flat majorAll songs at 164 BPME♭ major at 160–169 BPMAlicia Keys

MusicBrainz collapses 1 recording id into this one. Recording id f6406792-b52e-412e-b7a1-7065eceafb1f.