TempoPeek

Aretha Franklin · Spirit in the Dark

Don’t Play That Song

Don’t Play That Song is in F major at 109.4 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

109 BPM · Moderatomedian of 222 analyses · 109.2–109.4 across the middle eight tenths
Key
F major1 flat · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
84%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
222people who ran the extractor
One beat
548.4milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
434.2Hz · -23 cents from A 440
Dynamics
6.19dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.752Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
0.995Essentia'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. Most of them — 84% — put it in F major, a key signature of 1 flat. 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 109.4 BPM one beat lasts 548.4 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 137.1 ms and a dotted eighth 411.3 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 54.7 BPM, counted twice as fast 218.8. 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 6.19 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 0.752 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 F 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 F major

Each of these differs from F 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 109 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note42193.80.46
Half note21096.90.91
Dotted quarter1.5822.71.22
Quarter note (one beat)1548.41.82
Quarter triplet0.667365.62.74
Dotted eighth0.75411.32.43
Eighth note0.5274.23.65
Eighth triplet0.333182.85.47
Dotted sixteenth0.375205.74.86
Sixteenth note0.25137.17.29
Sixteenth triplet0.16791.410.94
Thirty-second note0.12568.614.59

Half time 54.7 BPM · double time 218.8 BPM. Every row is one beat (548.4 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Tarzan BoyBaltimoraF major109BPM
  2. Block Rockin’ BeatsThe Chemical BrothersF major109BPM
  3. L‐O‐V‐E (Love)Al GreenF major109BPM
  4. I Touch MyselfDivinylsF major110BPM
  5. Love in the DarkAdeleF major110BPM
  6. You Make It EasyAir & Beth HirschF major110BPM
  7. HurricaneThriceF major109BPM
  8. Live to TellMadonnaF major110BPM
  9. Hobo Chang BaCaptain Beefheart & His Magic BandF major109BPM
  10. MisledCéline DionF major110BPM

Recordings in F major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 109 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in F majorAll songs at 109 BPMF major at 100–109 BPMAretha Franklin

MusicBrainz collapses 23 recording ids into this one. Recording id 8951316f-c053-4e91-b43e-22daf56517fa.