Beyoncé · I Am… Sasha Fierce
If I Were a Boy
If I Were a Boy is in F sharp major at 89.9 beats per minute.
Tempo
90 BPM · Andantemedian of 244 analyses · 89.9–90 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- F♯ major6 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 98%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 244people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 667.4milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 434.2Hz · -23 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 6.32dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.68Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.066Essentia'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
244 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 98% — put it in F sharp major, a key signature of 6 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 244 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 89.9 BPM one beat lasts 667.4 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 166.9 ms and a dotted eighth 500.6 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 45 BPM, counted twice as fast 179.8. A score would mark that Andante, 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 6.32 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 0.68 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 sharp 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 90 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 2669.6 | 0.37 |
| Half note | 2 | 1334.8 | 0.75 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 1001.1 | 1 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 667.4 | 1.5 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 444.9 | 2.25 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 500.6 | 2 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 333.7 | 3 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 222.5 | 4.5 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 250.3 | 4 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 166.9 | 5.99 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 111.2 | 8.99 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 83.4 | 11.99 |
Half time 45 BPM · double time 179.8 BPM. Every row is one beat (667.4 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- FadedAlan WalkerF♯ major90BPM
- ZeroImagine DragonsF♯ major90BPM
- ShutdownApparatF♯ major90BPM
- BratGreen DayF♯ major90BPM
- 12The 1975F♯ major90BPM
- Wild Honey PieThe BeatlesF♯ major89BPM
- BurnoutGreen DayF♯ major91BPM
- MaybeEnrique IglesiasF♯ major91BPM
- Long Way Home5 Seconds of SummerF♯ major91BPM
- One Fine DayThe ChiffonsF♯ major89BPM
Recordings in F sharp major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 90 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in F sharp majorAll songs at 90 BPMF♯ major at 80–89 BPMBeyoncé
MusicBrainz collapses 7 recording ids into this one. Recording id 0ce4a1ba-4439-4756-8f7a-a4c1d7257332.