Sister Sledge · We Are Family

We Are Family

We Are Family is in D major at 119 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

119 BPM · Moderatomedian of 165 analyses · 117.3–119.3 across the middle eight tenths
Key
D major2 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
95%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
165people who ran the extractor
One beat
504.2milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
452.1Hz · +47 cents from A 440
Dynamics
4.9dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.851Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.439Essentia'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

165 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 95% — put it in D major, a key signature of 2 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 165 readings; 93% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 117.3 to 119.3 BPM.

At 119 BPM one beat lasts 504.2 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 126.1 ms and a dotted eighth 378.2 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 59.5 BPM, counted twice as fast 238. A score would mark that Moderato, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 452.1 Hz, which is 47 cents above concert A at 440 Hz — far enough that playing along at 440 Hz will sound wrong. That is a fact about this transfer of the music, not about how it was played.

The dynamic complexity of the recording measures 4.9 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 0.851 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 D 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 D major

Each of these differs from D 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 119 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note42016.80.5
Half note21008.40.99
Dotted quarter1.5756.31.32
Quarter note (one beat)1504.21.98
Quarter triplet0.667336.12.98
Dotted eighth0.75378.22.64
Eighth note0.5252.13.97
Eighth triplet0.333168.15.95
Dotted sixteenth0.375189.15.29
Sixteenth note0.25126.17.93
Sixteenth triplet0.1678411.9
Thirty-second note0.1256315.87

Half time 59.5 BPM · double time 238 BPM. Every row is one beat (504.2 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Love StoryTaylor SwiftD major119BPM
  2. The Bewlay BrothersDavid BowieD major119BPM
  3. Rock ’n’ Roll TrainAC/DCD major119BPM
  4. Chapter 24Pink FloydD major119BPM
  5. I Heard It Through the GrapevineCreedence Clearwater RevivalD major119BPM
  6. TragedyBee GeesD major118BPM
  7. Hey NineteenSteely DanD major120BPM
  8. Dancing in the StreetVan HalenD major120BPM
  9. Put Your Head on My ShoulderMichael BubléD major120BPM
  10. Nobody Told MeJohn Lennon & Yoko OnoD major118BPM

Recordings in D major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 119 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in D majorAll songs at 119 BPMD major at 110–119 BPM

MusicBrainz collapses 185 recording ids into this one. Recording id a0e2103a-bf7c-4e1c-bc53-873b40772f5d.