Nirvana · Nevermind

Polly

Polly is in C major at 125.8 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

126 BPM · Allegromedian of 200 analyses · 121–144.8 across the middle eight tenths
Key
C majorno sharps and no flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
46%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
200people who ran the extractor
One beat
476.9milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
442.3Hz · +9 cents from A 440
Dynamics
3.51dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.902Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.131Essentia'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

200 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Fewer than half of them — 46% — put it in C major, a key signature of no sharps and no flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 200 readings; 23% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 121 to 144.8 BPM. That is a recording the detector cannot settle on — the readings are spread far enough that the median is a summary of a disagreement rather than a measurement anybody should trust to the decimal.

At 125.8 BPM one beat lasts 476.9 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 119.2 ms and a dotted eighth 357.7 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 62.9 BPM, counted twice as fast 251.6. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 442.3 Hz, which is 9 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 3.51 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 0.902 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 126 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41907.80.52
Half note2953.91.05
Dotted quarter1.5715.41.4
Quarter note (one beat)1476.92.1
Quarter triplet0.6673183.15
Dotted eighth0.75357.72.8
Eighth note0.5238.54.19
Eighth triplet0.3331596.29
Dotted sixteenth0.375178.95.59
Sixteenth note0.25119.28.39
Sixteenth triplet0.16779.512.58
Thirty-second note0.12559.616.77

Half time 62.9 BPM · double time 251.6 BPM. Every row is one beat (476.9 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. A New Career in a New TownDavid BowieC major126BPM
  2. Bel AirLana Del ReyC major126BPM
  3. Never Can Say GoodbyeGloria GaynorC major126BPM
  4. HelpTina TurnerC major126BPM
  5. SunriseThe WhoC major126BPM
  6. When You’re GoneBryan Adams feat. Melanie CC major126BPM
  7. There She Goes AgainThe Velvet UndergroundC major126BPM
  8. Girl Can’t Help ItJourneyC major126BPM
  9. Who Made WhoAC/DCC major126BPM
  10. 5:15The WhoC major126BPM

Recordings in C major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 126 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in C majorAll songs at 126 BPMC major at 120–129 BPMNirvana

MusicBrainz collapses 512 recording ids into this one. Recording id 3f675c29-dfbd-4332-a878-21381b1414be.