Led Zeppelin · [Led Zeppelin IV]
Stairway to Heaven
Stairway to Heaven is in C major at 164.7 beats per minute.
Tempo
165 BPM · Vivacemedian of 349 analyses · 164.6–164.8 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- C majorno sharps and no flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 95%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 349people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 364.3milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 439.2Hz · -3 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 6.39dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.136Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.085Essentia'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
349 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 95% — put it in C major, a key signature of no sharps and no flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 349 readings; 97% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 164.7 BPM one beat lasts 364.3 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 91.1 ms and a dotted eighth 273.2 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 82.4 BPM, counted twice as fast 329.4. A score would mark that Vivace, 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 6.39 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 0.136 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 C 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 C major
Each of these differs from C 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 165 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 1457.2 | 0.69 |
| Half note | 2 | 728.6 | 1.37 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 546.4 | 1.83 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 364.3 | 2.75 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 242.9 | 4.12 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 273.2 | 3.66 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 182.1 | 5.49 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 121.4 | 8.24 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 136.6 | 7.32 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 91.1 | 10.98 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 60.7 | 16.47 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 45.5 | 21.96 |
Half time 82.4 BPM · double time 329.4 BPM. Every row is one beat (364.3 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Let My Love Open the DoorPete TownshendC major165BPM
- Don’t Forget to RememberBee GeesC major165BPM
- Can’t Get It Out of My HeadElectric Light OrchestraC major165BPM
- ZombieThe CranberriesC major165BPM
- See‐SawPink FloydC major165BPM
- A Pair Of Brown EyesThe PoguesC major165BPM
- Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly DazedDavid BowieC major164BPM
- Nine Million BicyclesKatie MeluaC major164BPM
- Bad Side of the MoonElton JohnC major164BPM
- Lucy in the Sky With DiamondsElton JohnC major164BPM
Recordings in C major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 165 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in C majorAll songs at 165 BPMC major at 160–169 BPMLed Zeppelin
MusicBrainz collapses 754 recording ids into this one. Recording id ccfdd180-22e1-49b9-bd81-b5fcf2c6474e.