Michael Jackson · Thriller
Billie Jean
Billie Jean is in F sharp minor at 117.2 beats per minute.
Tempo
117 BPM · Moderatomedian of 647 analyses · 117–128 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- F♯ minor3 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 75%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 647people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 511.9milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 434.2Hz · -23 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 4.13dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.899Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.497Essentia'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
647 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. A bare majority of them — 75% — put it in F sharp minor, a key signature of 3 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 647 readings; 84% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 117 to 128 BPM.
At 117.2 BPM one beat lasts 511.9 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 128 ms and a dotted eighth 384 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 58.6 BPM, counted twice as fast 234.4. A score would mark that Moderato, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 434.2 Hz, which is 23 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 4.13 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 0.899 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 F sharp minor; 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 F♯ minor
Each of these differs from F♯ minor 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 117 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 2047.8 | 0.49 |
| Half note | 2 | 1023.9 | 0.98 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 767.9 | 1.3 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 511.9 | 1.95 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 341.3 | 2.93 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 384 | 2.6 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 256 | 3.91 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 170.6 | 5.86 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 192 | 5.21 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 128 | 7.81 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 85.3 | 11.72 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 64 | 15.63 |
Half time 58.6 BPM · double time 234.4 BPM. Every row is one beat (511.9 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Side o’ the RoadCreedence Clearwater RevivalF♯ minor117BPM
- SnowblindBlack SabbathF♯ minor117BPM
- The Final CountdownEuropeF♯ minor118BPM
- I Put a Spell on YouNina SimoneF♯ minor118BPM
- Beat Goes OnMadonna feat. Kanye WestF♯ minor118BPM
- The SuburbsArcade FireF♯ minor118BPM
- Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)GarbageF♯ minor116BPM
- Gimme ShelterThe Rolling StonesF♯ minor118BPM
- CircusBritney SpearsF♯ minor115BPM
- Good StuffThe B‐52sF♯ minor120BPM
Recordings in F sharp minor, ordered by how near their tempo is to 117 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in F sharp minorAll songs at 117 BPMF♯ minor at 110–119 BPMMichael Jackson
MusicBrainz collapses 79 recording ids into this one. Recording id f980fc14-e29b-481d-ad3a-5ed9b4ab6340.