Joni Mitchell · Blue
The Last Time I Saw Richard
The Last Time I Saw Richard is in G major at 108.8 beats per minute.
Tempo
109 BPM · Moderatomedian of 146 analyses · 108.5–109.9 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- G major1 sharp · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 88%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 146people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 551.5milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 439.5Hz · -2 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 7.33dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.061Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 0.977Essentia'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
146 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 88% — put it in G major, a key signature of 1 sharp. The tempo printed above is the median of the 146 readings; 92% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 108.5 to 109.9 BPM.
At 108.8 BPM one beat lasts 551.5 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 137.9 ms and a dotted eighth 413.6 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 54.4 BPM, counted twice as fast 217.6. A score would mark that Moderato, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 439.5 Hz, which is 2 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 7.33 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 0.061 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 G 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 G major
Each of these differs from G 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 value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 2205.9 | 0.45 |
| Half note | 2 | 1102.9 | 0.91 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 827.2 | 1.21 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 551.5 | 1.81 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 367.6 | 2.72 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 413.6 | 2.42 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 275.7 | 3.63 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 183.8 | 5.44 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 206.8 | 4.84 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 137.9 | 7.25 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 91.9 | 10.88 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 68.9 | 14.51 |
Half time 54.4 BPM · double time 217.6 BPM. Every row is one beat (551.5 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- More Than a FeelingBostonG major109BPM
- The Reason a DogAerosmithG major109BPM
- RunawayLinkin ParkG major109BPM
- ChristmasThe WhoG major109BPM
- SatellitesBeyoncéG major108BPM
- Get on the Good FootJames BrownG major108BPM
- My FaultImagine DragonsG major108BPM
- Are You ReadyAC/DCG major108BPM
- Two of UsThe BeatlesG major110BPM
- Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles)Arcade FireG major108BPM
Recordings in G major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 109 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in G majorAll songs at 109 BPMG major at 100–109 BPMJoni Mitchell
MusicBrainz collapses 3 recording ids into this one. Recording id 20a8cea9-4059-4eb8-833c-6c5f4180be33.