TempoPeek

Neil Diamond · The Christmas Album Volume II

The First Noel

The First Noel is in C major at 80.6 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

81 BPM · Andantemedian of 184 analyses · 80.3–80.6 across the middle eight tenths
Key
C majorno sharps and no flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
100%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
184people who ran the extractor
One beat
744.4milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
441.1Hz · +4.5 cents from A 440
Dynamics
3.7dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.57Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
0.903Essentia'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

184 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 100% — put it in C major, a key signature of no sharps and no flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 184 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 80.6 BPM one beat lasts 744.4 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 186.1 ms and a dotted eighth 558.3 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 40.3 BPM, counted twice as fast 161.2. A score would mark that Andante, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 441.1 Hz, which is 4.5 cents above 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 3.7 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 0.57 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 81 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note42977.70.34
Half note21488.80.67
Dotted quarter1.51116.60.9
Quarter note (one beat)1744.41.34
Quarter triplet0.667496.32.02
Dotted eighth0.75558.31.79
Eighth note0.5372.22.69
Eighth triplet0.333248.14.03
Dotted sixteenth0.375279.23.58
Sixteenth note0.25186.15.37
Sixteenth triplet0.167124.18.06
Thirty-second note0.12593.110.75

Half time 40.3 BPM · double time 161.2 BPM. Every row is one beat (744.4 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Come Away With MeNorah JonesC major81BPM
  2. ChangesBlack SabbathC major81BPM
  3. MisunderstandingGenesisC major81BPM
  4. I Guess That’s Why They Call It the BluesElton JohnC major80BPM
  5. Golden SlumbersThe BeatlesC major81BPM
  6. All I NeedAWOLNATIONC major81BPM
  7. For My LoverTracy ChapmanC major81BPM
  8. The Sky Is BrokenMobyC major82BPM
  9. TrumpetsJason DeruloC major82BPM
  10. Float OnDanny Brown feat. Charli XCXC major82BPM

Recordings in C major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 81 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in C majorAll songs at 81 BPMC major at 80–89 BPMNeil Diamond

MusicBrainz collapses 4 recording ids into this one. Recording id dc73ba9b-f5d4-465e-8dce-68fecf09f9c0.