David Bowie · Aladdin Sane
The Jean Genie
The Jean Genie is in E major at 129.2 beats per minute.
Tempo
129 BPM · Allegromedian of 629 analyses · 128.8–129.6 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- E major4 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 68%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 629people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 464.4milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 440.5Hz · +2 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 2.93dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.9Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.246Essentia'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
629 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. A bare majority of them — 68% — put it in E major, a key signature of 4 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 629 readings; 89% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 129.2 BPM one beat lasts 464.4 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 116.1 ms and a dotted eighth 348.3 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 64.6 BPM, counted twice as fast 258.4. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 440.5 Hz, which is 2 cents above concert A at 440 Hz — close enough to standard that a tuner would not argue. That is a fact about this transfer of the music, not about how it was played.
The dynamic complexity of the recording measures 2.93 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 0.9 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 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 129 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 1857.6 | 0.54 |
| Half note | 2 | 928.8 | 1.08 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 696.6 | 1.44 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 464.4 | 2.15 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 309.6 | 3.23 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 348.3 | 2.87 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 232.2 | 4.31 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 154.8 | 6.46 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 174.1 | 5.74 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 116.1 | 8.61 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 77.4 | 12.92 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 58 | 17.23 |
Half time 64.6 BPM · double time 258.4 BPM. Every row is one beat (464.4 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- She’s Out of My LifeMichael JacksonE major129BPM
- Be My BabyThe RonettesE major129BPM
- BlackenedMetallicaE major129BPM
- Punky’s DilemmaSimon & GarfunkelE major129BPM
- Papa’s Got a Brand New BagJames BrownE major129BPM
- Uptown GirlBilly JoelE major129BPM
- Who Can It Be Now?Men at WorkE major129BPM
- Best of YouFoo FightersE major130BPM
- WheneverThe Black Eyed PeasE major130BPM
- Down Payment BluesAC/DCE major130BPM
Recordings in E major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 129 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in E majorAll songs at 129 BPME major at 120–129 BPMDavid Bowie
MusicBrainz collapses 145 recording ids into this one. Recording id f18b8945-9784-417a-bb43-53508b73d612.