Queen · Sheer Heart Attack
Killer Queen
Killer Queen is in B flat major at 117.8 beats per minute.
Tempo
118 BPM · Moderatomedian of 143 analyses · 117.7–117.8 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- B♭ major2 flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 100%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 143people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 509.3milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 434.2Hz · -23 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 3.97dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.806Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.061Essentia'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
143 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 100% — put it in B flat major, a key signature of 2 flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 143 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 117.8 BPM one beat lasts 509.3 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 127.3 ms and a dotted eighth 382 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 58.9 BPM, counted twice as fast 235.6. 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 3.97 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 0.806 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 B flat 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 B♭ major
Each of these differs from B♭ 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 118 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 2037.4 | 0.49 |
| Half note | 2 | 1018.7 | 0.98 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 764 | 1.31 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 509.3 | 1.96 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 339.6 | 2.95 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 382 | 2.62 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 254.7 | 3.93 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 169.8 | 5.89 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 191 | 5.24 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 127.3 | 7.85 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 84.9 | 11.78 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 63.7 | 15.71 |
Half time 58.9 BPM · double time 235.6 BPM. Every row is one beat (509.3 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Without YouMötley CrüeB♭ major118BPM
- Blue JeansLana Del ReyB♭ major118BPM
- ThirteenBig StarB♭ major118BPM
- CastorDaft PunkB♭ major118BPM
- I Don’t Like It, I Love ItFlo Rida feat. Robin Thicke & Verdine WhiteB♭ major118BPM
- Another Lonely DayBen HarperB♭ major118BPM
- MaybelleneChuck BerryB♭ major117BPM
- The ChangelingThe DoorsB♭ major118BPM
- Running AwayBob Marley & The WailersB♭ major118BPM
- 1999PrinceB♭ major119BPM
Recordings in B flat major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 118 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in B flat majorAll songs at 118 BPMB♭ major at 110–119 BPMQueen
MusicBrainz collapses 93 recording ids into this one. Recording id 7b3d96c9-3e22-4337-be32-f8a26b816685.