TempoPeek

Ray Charles · The Genius of Ray Charles

It Had to Be You

It Had to Be You is in E flat major at 155.7 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

156 BPM · Allegromedian of 205 analyses · 81.6–155.7 across the middle eight tenths
Key
E♭ major3 flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
100%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
205people who ran the extractor
One beat
385.4milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
441.5Hz · +6 cents from A 440
Dynamics
6.31dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.275Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
0.971Essentia'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

205 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 100% — put it in E flat major, a key signature of 3 flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 205 readings; 45% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 81.6 to 155.7 BPM.

At 155.7 BPM one beat lasts 385.4 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 96.3 ms and a dotted eighth 289 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 77.9 BPM, counted twice as fast 311.4. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 441.5 Hz, which is 6 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 6.31 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 0.275 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 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 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 156 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41541.40.65
Half note2770.71.3
Dotted quarter1.55781.73
Quarter note (one beat)1385.42.6
Quarter triplet0.667256.93.89
Dotted eighth0.752893.46
Eighth note0.5192.75.19
Eighth triplet0.333128.57.79
Dotted sixteenth0.375144.56.92
Sixteenth note0.2596.310.38
Sixteenth triplet0.16764.215.57
Thirty-second note0.12548.220.76

Half time 77.9 BPM · double time 311.4 BPM. Every row is one beat (385.4 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Surfing on a RocketAirE♭ major156BPM
  2. VenusAirE♭ major156BPM
  3. When I Kissed the TeacherABBAE♭ major153BPM
  4. RoamerEnrique IglesiasE♭ major153BPM
  5. BeautifulChristina AguileraE♭ major152BPM
  6. Show ’em (What You’re Made of)Backstreet BoysE♭ major152BPM
  7. Say It Ain’t SoWeezerE♭ major152BPM
  8. Love Will Keep You Up All NightBackstreet BoysE♭ major150BPM
  9. Don’t Stop5 Seconds of SummerE♭ major150BPM
  10. The Well and the LighthouseArcade FireE♭ major150BPM

Recordings in E flat major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 156 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in E flat majorAll songs at 156 BPME♭ major at 150–159 BPMRay Charles

MusicBrainz collapses 23 recording ids into this one. Recording id ae4610d7-479f-4cba-ae5b-8b52928c22ed.