TempoPeek

The Five Stairsteps · Stairsteps

O‐o‐h Child

O‐o‐h Child is in B flat major at 88.8 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

89 BPM · Andantemedian of 224 analyses · 87.6–88.9 across the middle eight tenths
Key
B♭ major2 flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
78%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
224people who ran the extractor
One beat
675.7milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
434.2Hz · -23 cents from A 440
Dynamics
3.63dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.833Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.029Essentia'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

224 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 78% — put it in B flat major, a key signature of 2 flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 224 readings; 98% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 87.6 to 88.9 BPM.

At 88.8 BPM one beat lasts 675.7 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 168.9 ms and a dotted eighth 506.8 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 44.4 BPM, counted twice as fast 177.6. A score would mark that Andante, 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 3.63 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 0.833 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 89 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note42702.70.37
Half note21351.40.74
Dotted quarter1.51013.50.99
Quarter note (one beat)1675.71.48
Quarter triplet0.667450.52.22
Dotted eighth0.75506.81.97
Eighth note0.5337.82.96
Eighth triplet0.333225.24.44
Dotted sixteenth0.375253.43.95
Sixteenth note0.25168.95.92
Sixteenth triplet0.167112.68.88
Thirty-second note0.12584.511.84

Half time 44.4 BPM · double time 177.6 BPM. Every row is one beat (675.7 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Emenius SleepusGreen DayB♭ major89BPM
  2. You Know You’re RightNirvanaB♭ major89BPM
  3. These Arms of MineOtis ReddingB♭ major89BPM
  4. TransitionsBeastie BoysB♭ major89BPM
  5. Don’t Know WhyNorah JonesB♭ major89BPM
  6. Martha My DearThe BeatlesB♭ major89BPM
  7. Mercedes BenzJanis JoplinB♭ major88BPM
  8. I’m Like a BirdNelly FurtadoB♭ major90BPM
  9. Let ’Em InWingsB♭ major88BPM
  10. Summer WindFrank SinatraB♭ major88BPM

Recordings in B flat major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 89 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in B flat majorAll songs at 89 BPMB♭ major at 80–89 BPM

MusicBrainz collapses 5 recording ids into this one. Recording id 4af967a1-0a7f-42ac-93c8-e5e80f70a6c1.