Ed Sheeran · ×
Thinking Out Loud
Thinking Out Loud is in D major at 156.3 beats per minute.
Tempo
156 BPM · Vivacemedian of 265 analyses · 156.2–156.3 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- D major2 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 95%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 265people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 383.9milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 441.5Hz · +6 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 6.09dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.898Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.148Essentia'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
265 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 95% — put it in D major, a key signature of 2 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 265 readings; 94% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 156.3 BPM one beat lasts 383.9 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 96 ms and a dotted eighth 287.9 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 78.2 BPM, counted twice as fast 312.6. A score would mark that Vivace, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 441.5 Hz, which is 6 cents above 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 6.09 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 0.898 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 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 156 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 1535.5 | 0.65 |
| Half note | 2 | 767.8 | 1.3 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 575.8 | 1.74 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 383.9 | 2.61 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 255.9 | 3.91 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 287.9 | 3.47 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 191.9 | 5.21 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 128 | 7.82 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 144 | 6.95 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 96 | 10.42 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 64 | 15.63 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 48 | 20.84 |
Half time 78.2 BPM · double time 312.6 BPM. Every row is one beat (383.9 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Whip ItDEVOD major156BPM
- OverdriveFoo FightersD major156BPM
- HomesickThe CureD major156BPM
- MotherFlorence + the MachineD major156BPM
- GardenPearl JamD major156BPM
- Crystal BallStyxD major156BPM
- Stand by Your SideCéline DionD major155BPM
- ChangeBlind MelonD major155BPM
- BodiesSex PistolsD major155BPM
- I Feel the SameBonnie RaittD major155BPM
Recordings in D major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 156 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in D majorAll songs at 156 BPMD major at 150–159 BPMEd Sheeran
MusicBrainz collapses 10 recording ids into this one. Recording id cb2cc207-8125-445c-9ef9-6ea44eee959a.