TempoPeek

Amy Winehouse · Back to Black

He Can Only Hold Her

He Can Only Hold Her is in D flat major at 98.1 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

98 BPM · Andantemedian of 222 analyses · 98–98.2 across the middle eight tenths
Key
D♭ major5 flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
96%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
222people who ran the extractor
One beat
611.6milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
452.1Hz · +47 cents from A 440
Dynamics
4.13dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.918Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.306Essentia'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

222 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 96% — put it in D flat major, a key signature of 5 flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 222 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 98.1 BPM one beat lasts 611.6 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 152.9 ms and a dotted eighth 458.7 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 49.1 BPM, counted twice as fast 196.2. A score would mark that Andante, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 452.1 Hz, which is 47 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 4.13 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 0.918 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 D 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 D♭ major

Each of these differs from D♭ 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 98 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note42446.50.41
Half note21223.20.82
Dotted quarter1.5917.41.09
Quarter note (one beat)1611.61.63
Quarter triplet0.667407.72.45
Dotted eighth0.75458.72.18
Eighth note0.5305.83.27
Eighth triplet0.333203.94.9
Dotted sixteenth0.375229.44.36
Sixteenth note0.25152.96.54
Sixteenth triplet0.167101.99.81
Thirty-second note0.12576.513.08

Half time 49.1 BPM · double time 196.2 BPM. Every row is one beat (611.6 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. What’s Love Got to Do With ItTina TurnerD♭ major98BPM
  2. Down in a HoleAlice in ChainsD♭ major97BPM
  3. Tight Wad HillGreen DayD♭ major99BPM
  4. Paper GangstaLady GagaD♭ major99BPM
  5. You DoAimee MannD♭ major99BPM
  6. Million Dollar ManLana Del ReyD♭ major99BPM
  7. Miracles (Someone Special)Coldplay & Big SeanD♭ major97BPM
  8. Night ProwlerAC/DCD♭ major99BPM
  9. Hand in HandPhil CollinsD♭ major97BPM
  10. MenswearThe 1975D♭ major97BPM

Recordings in D flat major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 98 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in D flat majorAll songs at 98 BPMD♭ major at 90–99 BPMAmy Winehouse

MusicBrainz collapses 15 recording ids into this one. Recording id a224ccb6-2eb5-4bd9-b32a-65d474ddd2cf.