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.

4080120160200

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 valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note42205.90.45
Half note21102.90.91
Dotted quarter1.5827.21.21
Quarter note (one beat)1551.51.81
Quarter triplet0.667367.62.72
Dotted eighth0.75413.62.42
Eighth note0.5275.73.63
Eighth triplet0.333183.85.44
Dotted sixteenth0.375206.84.84
Sixteenth note0.25137.97.25
Sixteenth triplet0.16791.910.88
Thirty-second note0.12568.914.51

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

  1. More Than a FeelingBostonG major109BPM
  2. The Reason a DogAerosmithG major109BPM
  3. RunawayLinkin ParkG major109BPM
  4. ChristmasThe WhoG major109BPM
  5. SatellitesBeyoncéG major108BPM
  6. Get on the Good FootJames BrownG major108BPM
  7. My FaultImagine DragonsG major108BPM
  8. Are You ReadyAC/DCG major108BPM
  9. Two of UsThe BeatlesG major110BPM
  10. 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.