Marvin Gaye · What’s Going On
What’s Going On
What’s Going On is in E major at 101.7 beats per minute.
Tempo
102 BPM · Andantemedian of 314 analyses · 101.4–101.9 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- E major4 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 94%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 314people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 590milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 441.8Hz · +7 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 4.14dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.908Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.19Essentia'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
314 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 94% — put it in E major, a key signature of 4 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 314 readings; 94% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 101.7 BPM one beat lasts 590 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 147.5 ms and a dotted eighth 442.5 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 50.9 BPM, counted twice as fast 203.4. A score would mark that Andante, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 441.8 Hz, which is 7 cents above 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 4.14 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 0.908 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 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 102 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 2359.9 | 0.42 |
| Half note | 2 | 1179.9 | 0.85 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 885 | 1.13 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 590 | 1.7 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 393.3 | 2.54 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 442.5 | 2.26 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 295 | 3.39 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 196.7 | 5.09 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 221.2 | 4.52 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 147.5 | 6.78 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 98.3 | 10.17 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 73.7 | 13.56 |
Half time 50.9 BPM · double time 203.4 BPM. Every row is one beat (590 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- In PiecesBackstreet BoysE major102BPM
- Fakin’ ItSimon & GarfunkelE major102BPM
- Living in DangerAce of BaseE major102BPM
- Riding With the KingB.B. King & Eric ClaptonE major102BPM
- Dumpweedblink‐182E major101BPM
- Sing a Simple SongSly & the Family StoneE major101BPM
- Beast of BurdenThe Rolling StonesE major101BPM
- Among the LivingAnthraxE major103BPM
- Clothes Line SagaBob Dylan & The BandE major101BPM
- IfPink FloydE major103BPM
Recordings in E major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 102 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in E majorAll songs at 102 BPME major at 100–109 BPMMarvin Gaye
MusicBrainz collapses 103 recording ids into this one. Recording id 5a80bd9b-4d50-4329-a392-005e9b4be48f.