The Beatles · Please Please Me

Ask Me Why

Ask Me Why is in E major at 134.9 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

135 BPM · Allegromedian of 141 analyses · 134.8–135.1 across the middle eight tenths
Key
E major4 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
82%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
141people who ran the extractor
One beat
444.8milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
432.9Hz · -28 cents from A 440
Dynamics
3.9dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.881Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.132Essentia'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

141 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 82% — put it in E major, a key signature of 4 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 141 readings; 91% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 134.9 BPM one beat lasts 444.8 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 111.2 ms and a dotted eighth 333.6 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 67.5 BPM, counted twice as fast 269.8. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 432.9 Hz, which is 28 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 3.9 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 0.881 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 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 135 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41779.10.56
Half note2889.51.12
Dotted quarter1.5667.21.5
Quarter note (one beat)1444.82.25
Quarter triplet0.667296.53.37
Dotted eighth0.75333.63
Eighth note0.5222.44.5
Eighth triplet0.333148.36.75
Dotted sixteenth0.375166.86
Sixteenth note0.25111.28.99
Sixteenth triplet0.16774.113.49
Thirty-second note0.12555.617.99

Half time 67.5 BPM · double time 269.8 BPM. Every row is one beat (444.8 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. RoamThe B‐52sE major135BPM
  2. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red ShoesElvis CostelloE major135BPM
  3. HaifischRammsteinE major135BPM
  4. Schottkey 7th PathAphex TwinE major135BPM
  5. Kisses of FireABBAE major135BPM
  6. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt CheapAC/DCE major135BPM
  7. Living After MidnightJudas PriestE major135BPM
  8. The Spirit of RadioRushE major136BPM
  9. IncognitoCéline DionE major134BPM
  10. Vivo per leiAndrea Bocelli feat. GiorgiaE major136BPM

Recordings in E major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 135 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in E majorAll songs at 135 BPME major at 130–139 BPMThe Beatles

MusicBrainz collapses 74 recording ids into this one. Recording id d9944f08-0291-4939-9630-65f0ae8657ae.