The Rolling Stones · Exile on Main St.
Sweet Virginia
Sweet Virginia is in A major at 107.9 beats per minute.
Tempo
108 BPM · Andantemedian of 183 analyses · 107.8–109.6 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- A major3 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 95%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 183people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 556.1milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 436.7Hz · -13 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 4.89dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.63Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.23Essentia'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
183 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 95% — put it in A major, a key signature of 3 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 183 readings; 91% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 107.8 to 109.6 BPM.
At 107.9 BPM one beat lasts 556.1 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 139 ms and a dotted eighth 417.1 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 54 BPM, counted twice as fast 215.8. A score would mark that Andante, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 436.7 Hz, which is 13 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 4.89 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 0.63 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 A 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 A major
Each of these differs from A 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 108 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 2224.3 | 0.45 |
| Half note | 2 | 1112.1 | 0.9 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 834.1 | 1.2 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 556.1 | 1.8 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 370.7 | 2.7 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 417.1 | 2.4 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 278 | 3.6 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 185.4 | 5.4 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 208.5 | 4.8 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 139 | 7.19 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 92.7 | 10.79 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 69.5 | 14.39 |
Half time 54 BPM · double time 215.8 BPM. Every row is one beat (556.1 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Right Through YouAlanis MorissetteA major108BPM
- Gallows PoleLed ZeppelinA major108BPM
- One WorldDire StraitsA major108BPM
- Ultra Violet (Light My Way)U2A major108BPM
- Dig for FirePixiesA major108BPM
- Refrigerator CarSpin DoctorsA major108BPM
- Some Sin for Nuthin’AC/DCA major107BPM
- Hot in HerreNellyA major107BPM
- Beyoncé InterludeBeyoncéA major107BPM
- The Full BugVan HalenA major107BPM
Recordings in A major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 108 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in A majorAll songs at 108 BPMA major at 100–109 BPMThe Rolling Stones
MusicBrainz collapses 160 recording ids into this one. Recording id cd848e31-48eb-4d4b-8592-6b5f027eb25c.