TempoPeek

Ray Charles · What’d I Say

Mary Ann

Mary Ann is in F major at 144.4 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

144 BPM · Allegromedian of 228 analyses · 143.3–144.6 across the middle eight tenths
Key
F major1 flat · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
60%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
228people who ran the extractor
One beat
415.5milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
438.7Hz · -5 cents from A 440
Dynamics
4.88dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.492Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.146Essentia'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

228 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. A bare majority of them — 60% — put it in F major, a key signature of 1 flat. The tempo printed above is the median of the 228 readings; 94% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 143.3 to 144.6 BPM.

At 144.4 BPM one beat lasts 415.5 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 103.9 ms and a dotted eighth 311.6 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 72.2 BPM, counted twice as fast 288.8. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 438.7 Hz, which is 5 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 4.88 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 0.492 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 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 F major

Each of these differs from F 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 144 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note416620.6
Half note28311.2
Dotted quarter1.5623.31.6
Quarter note (one beat)1415.52.41
Quarter triplet0.6672773.61
Dotted eighth0.75311.63.21
Eighth note0.5207.84.81
Eighth triplet0.333138.57.22
Dotted sixteenth0.375155.86.42
Sixteenth note0.25103.99.63
Sixteenth triplet0.16769.314.44
Thirty-second note0.12551.919.25

Half time 72.2 BPM · double time 288.8 BPM. Every row is one beat (415.5 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. The Beautiful OnesPrince and The RevolutionF major145BPM
  2. ScoffNirvanaF major145BPM
  3. Ne partez pas sans moiCéline DionF major144BPM
  4. Tiny DancerElton JohnF major145BPM
  5. Not Your FaultAWOLNATIONF major144BPM
  6. Every Day Is Exactly the SameNine Inch NailsF major144BPM
  7. PodunkFoo FightersF major144BPM
  8. RockstarNickelbackF major144BPM
  9. Twin Peaks ThemeAngelo BadalamentiF major144BPM
  10. SwayThe Rolling StonesF major144BPM

Recordings in F major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 144 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in F majorAll songs at 144 BPMF major at 140–149 BPMRay Charles

MusicBrainz collapses 38 recording ids into this one. Recording id 8e8855f8-41a9-4089-9bd2-220603cbe896.