TempoPeek

Genesis · We Can’t Dance

Hold on My Heart

Hold on My Heart is in E flat major at 86 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

86 BPM · Andantemedian of 177 analyses · 85.9–86 across the middle eight tenths
Key
E♭ major3 flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
91%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
177people who ran the extractor
One beat
697.7milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
439.2Hz · -3 cents from A 440
Dynamics
4.63dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.857Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
0.988Essentia'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

177 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 91% — put it in E flat major, a key signature of 3 flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 177 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 86 BPM one beat lasts 697.7 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 174.4 ms and a dotted eighth 523.3 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 43 BPM, counted twice as fast 172. A score would mark that Andante, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 439.2 Hz, which is 3 cents below 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 4.63 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 0.857 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 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 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 86 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note42790.70.36
Half note21395.30.72
Dotted quarter1.51046.50.96
Quarter note (one beat)1697.71.43
Quarter triplet0.667465.12.15
Dotted eighth0.75523.31.91
Eighth note0.5348.82.87
Eighth triplet0.333232.64.3
Dotted sixteenth0.375261.63.82
Sixteenth note0.25174.45.73
Sixteenth triplet0.167116.38.6
Thirty-second note0.12587.211.47

Half time 43 BPM · double time 172 BPM. Every row is one beat (697.7 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. With YouChris BrownE♭ major86BPM
  2. AngelAerosmithE♭ major86BPM
  3. FourMiles Davis QuartetE♭ major86BPM
  4. ImpossibleJames ArthurE♭ major85BPM
  5. A Whisper & a ClamorAnberlinE♭ major85BPM
  6. De camino a la veredaBuena Vista Social ClubE♭ major85BPM
  7. Intro50 CentE♭ major85BPM
  8. Basket CaseGreen DayE♭ major88BPM
  9. It’s a Hard LifeQueenE♭ major83BPM
  10. Only TimeEnyaE♭ major83BPM

Recordings in E flat major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 86 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in E flat majorAll songs at 86 BPME♭ major at 80–89 BPMGenesis

MusicBrainz collapses 74 recording ids into this one. Recording id 12c774a5-feff-4feb-a3c9-424b5d87bade.