Led Zeppelin · [Led Zeppelin IV]
Black Dog
Black Dog is in A major at 163.7 beats per minute.
Tempo
164 BPM · Vivacemedian of 490 analyses · 163.5–164.5 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- A major3 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 82%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 490people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 366.5milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 436.7Hz · -13 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 4.61dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.682Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.017Essentia'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
490 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 82% — put it in A major, a key signature of 3 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 490 readings; 87% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 163.7 BPM one beat lasts 366.5 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 91.6 ms and a dotted eighth 274.9 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 81.9 BPM, counted twice as fast 327.4. A score would mark that Vivace, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 436.7 Hz, which is 13 cents below 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 4.61 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 0.682 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 A 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 A major
Each of these differs from A 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 164 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 1466.1 | 0.68 |
| Half note | 2 | 733 | 1.36 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 549.8 | 1.82 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 366.5 | 2.73 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 244.3 | 4.09 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 274.9 | 3.64 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 183.3 | 5.46 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 122.2 | 8.19 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 137.4 | 7.28 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 91.6 | 10.91 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 61.1 | 16.37 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 45.8 | 21.83 |
Half time 81.9 BPM · double time 327.4 BPM. Every row is one beat (366.5 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Let’s Spend the Night TogetherDavid BowieA major164BPM
- Doctor RobertThe BeatlesA major164BPM
- Church on SundayGreen DayA major164BPM
- Rip It UpJetA major164BPM
- ParanoidBlack SabbathA major163BPM
- That I Would Be GoodAlanis MorissetteA major164BPM
- M+M’sblink‐182A major163BPM
- Trapped Under IceMetallicaA major163BPM
- Soul OneBlind MelonA major163BPM
- The Girl Is MineMichael Jackson with Paul McCartneyA major163BPM
Recordings in A major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 164 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in A majorAll songs at 164 BPMA major at 160–169 BPMLed Zeppelin
MusicBrainz collapses 552 recording ids into this one. Recording id f8f0e1c4-310b-4107-bed2-f4394d37b033.