The Fray · How to Save a Life
How to Save a Life
How to Save a Life is in B flat major at 122 beats per minute.
Tempo
122 BPM · Allegromedian of 279 analyses · 122–122.3 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- B♭ major2 flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 99%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 279people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 491.8milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 440.8Hz · +3 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 3.86dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.889Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.038Essentia'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
279 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 99% — put it in B flat major, a key signature of 2 flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 279 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 122 BPM one beat lasts 491.8 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 123 ms and a dotted eighth 368.9 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 61 BPM, counted twice as fast 244. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 440.8 Hz, which is 3 cents above concert A at 440 Hz — close enough to standard that a tuner would not argue. That is a fact about this transfer of the music, not about how it was played.
The dynamic complexity of the recording measures 3.86 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 0.889 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 122 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 1967.2 | 0.51 |
| Half note | 2 | 983.6 | 1.02 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 737.7 | 1.36 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 491.8 | 2.03 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 327.9 | 3.05 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 368.9 | 2.71 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 245.9 | 4.07 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 163.9 | 6.1 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 184.4 | 5.42 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 123 | 8.13 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 82 | 12.2 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 61.5 | 16.27 |
Half time 61 BPM · double time 244 BPM. Every row is one beat (491.8 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Darlin’Backstreet BoysB♭ major122BPM
- My Mind (Mindless mix)Ace of BaseB♭ major122BPM
- Don’t Wanna Go HomeJason DeruloB♭ major122BPM
- Saint of MeThe Rolling StonesB♭ major122BPM
- Wearing the Inside OutPink FloydB♭ major122BPM
- My BonnieRay CharlesB♭ major123BPM
- It’s Raining AgainSupertrampB♭ major121BPM
- Cruel WorldLana Del ReyB♭ major123BPM
- Diamond DustJeff BeckB♭ major123BPM
- Dance AwayRoxy MusicB♭ major123BPM
Recordings in B flat major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 122 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in B flat majorAll songs at 122 BPMB♭ major at 120–129 BPMThe Fray
MusicBrainz collapses 31 recording ids into this one. Recording id 5c5cae19-b26c-4542-907a-9c15b51ab6a6.