"Editorial abstract illustration evoking the emotional arc of a song titled "Mood Indigo" by Duke Ellington. Noticeable climb from quiet to loud. layered composition, overlapping color planes. Mood: melancholy, reflective. Visual style: 1930 vintage painting aesthetic, warm aged tones. Painterly, grainy film texture, muted palette with strategic accent colors. The composition should read left-to-right like a timeline — calm on one side, intensifying toward the other. Strictly no faces, no text, no logos, no literal objects, no band imagery. Pure color-field abstraction with emotional weight. 16:9 editorial format."
Easy, low-key calm, gentler than 81% of our 19,209 measured songs — measures out best for focus.
70
BPM
Mood Indigo by Duke Ellington is 70 BPM — Adagio (slow).
Half-time 35 BPM · Double-time 140 BPM · released 1930
Fan image for "Mood Indigo"
An abstract illustration of what this song feels like. Each image is built from a prompt — the text description fed to the image generator. Listeners submit their own prompts, upvote the ones that fit best, and the top-voted prompt drives the next regeneration. After 100 image votes, we make a new picture.
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Song DNA
Notes: The piece features a smooth, melancholic melody with rich harmonies that evoke a sense of nostalgia. Its layered instrumentation creates a warm and inviting atmosphere.
Misophonia Triggers
Recommended for: deep listening relaxation
Mood Indigo is a classic jazz composition characterized by its bluesy feel and intricate arrangements, showcasing Duke Ellington's innovative style.
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Hear it the way it was made
The right gear changes everything.
Moods: melancholy, reflective
Traditions: jazz
Quiet Track
"Mood Indigo" sits at 70 BPM. Built for stillness.
This is well below typical speech rhythm. The body reads slow tempo as permission to rest. Layered texture and instrumental keep the foreground spare. Good candidates for use: falling asleep, processing a hard day, slow mornings, study sessions where the music must not pull at you. Avoid for any task that needs alertness — the piece works against it.
How this song sits on each sensory axis
A dynamic range of 6/10 means this song moves. Expect a real volume climb between quiet sections and the loudest part of the arrangement — enough that you may want to set the initial volume below where you'd normally land.
Sudden changes: none. Transitions are musically signaled — nothing will surprise you if you're only half-listening.
Texture is layered — a full arrangement with clear separation between parts.
Predictability is medium — conventional structure overall, with one or two moments that deviate from what you'd expect.
Vocal style: instrumental.
Where this sits in Duke Ellington's catalog
We have 21 songs from Duke Ellington in the library. Of those, 6 are rated Safe, 14 Moderate, and 1 Intense. This song's dynamic range of 6/10 sits below the artist average of 6.6, making it the #16 most dynamic track of theirs in our library.
1930 context
Released in 1930. We have 5 songs from that year in our library, averaging a dynamic range of 6.0/10. This track is about average than the year average. Explore more from the 1930s.
Explore by mood and tradition
Traditions
jazz · 890How fast is "Mood Indigo"?
70 BPM — Slow (downtempo / ballad)
For running
Too slow for most running; good for warm-up walks or cool-down.
For workouts
Warm-up, cool-down, yoga, stretching.
For daily life
Sleep, meditation, reading, focus work.
Browse more songs at 70 BPM.
When "Mood Indigo" works, and when it doesn't
Use-case verdicts computed from the song's tempo, dynamics, and sensory profile.
~
Focus / studying
Maybe — fine for routine work, but the mid-song changes may pull attention during deep focus.
✗
Running / workout
No — 70 BPM is too slow for sustained cardio.
~
Sleep / winding down
Maybe — calm overall, but tempo is a bit high for deep sleep. Better for winding down than falling asleep.
✓
Driving / road trip
Yes — predictable enough for safe driving attention, interesting enough to stay engaged.
✓
Cooking / dinner background
Yes — sits in the background without demanding attention.
✓
Emotional release / catharsis
Yes — this is a song for actively feeling what you came to feel, not for background.
Related reading
Editorial guides that cover this song's use cases, moods, or artist.
The 10 Calmest Albums Ever Recorded — A low-intensity Listening Guide
The 10 Calmest Albums Ever Recorded — A low-intensity Listening Guide — A guide for sensory-sensitive listeners on musiciwant.com
A Sensory Guide to Every Radiohead Album — From Safe to Intense
A Sensory Guide to Every Radiohead Album — From Safe to Intense — A guide for sensory-sensitive listeners on musiciwant.com
Classical Music for Sensory Sensitivity: What's Safe, What's Intense, and Why
Classical Music for Sensory Sensitivity: What's Safe, What's Intense, and Why — A guide for sensory-sensitive listeners on musiciwant.com
Why this rating
We rate this song Safe because its dynamic range stays within our low-variance band, there are no unsignaled changes, and the texture and vocal style are both in the low-fatigue range. Our methodology uses an AND rule for Safe — a song has to clear every dimension to earn the rating.
This song in the Music Studio
29/100 intensity
See how “Mood Indigo” sits against your own sensitivities, or use it as a waypoint in a calmer set.
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Rating last reviewed: 2026-04-16. Reviewed by the Music I Want editorial team against the documented methodology.
Think this rating is wrong? Contact the editor — every message is read and ratings get revised.
By the numbers: how this song compares
Computed from this song’s place among the 19,209 songs we’ve measured.
Where it sits in 19,000 songs
This sits near the calm end of everything we've measured — gentler than 81% of the 19,209 songs in the library. Its intensity reading of 29/100 comes from a dynamic range of 6/10, layered texture, no sudden shifts, and instrumental. Relatively few songs occupy this exact corner of the spectrum.
What makes it unusual
What stands out most about this song is a slow, unhurried pace: more extreme on that axis than 96% of everything we've measured. At the far opposite end of the library sit the songs built on full chaos — sudden changes, huge quiet-to-loud swings, and relentless energy — the kind of track this one is the counterpoint to.
Feels almost identical to
Sketches of Spain — Miles Davis · 99%Cello Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007: Prelude — Johann Sebastian Bach · 99%Silk Road — Kitaro · 99%Englabornin — Johann Johannsson · 98%
Closest matches by feel across all 19,209 measured songs — not by genre or artist, by how they actually move.
What it’s good for
Sleep8/10
Focus10/10
Workout1/10
Dinner7/10
Party / hype2/10
Scored from this song’s tempo, intensity, dynamics and texture — not crowd votes.
1930 in context
The 5 songs we’ve measured from 1930 average a dynamic range of 6.0/10. At 6/10, this track is right in line with its year.
Mixes smoothly with
Cello Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007: Prelude — Johann Sebastian BachSilk Road — KitaroSketches of Spain — Miles Davis
Within a few BPM and close in feel — they flow without a jarring transition.
The fingerprint
Intensity29
Dynamics56
Tempo17
Surprise0
Density33
Predictability50
Vocal force0
Trigger load0
The 8-dimension measurement behind every rating on this page.
Frequently asked about "Mood Indigo"
Quick answers pulled from the song's sensory analysis.
What is the BPM of "Mood Indigo" by Duke Ellington?
"Mood Indigo" by Duke Ellington has a tempo of 70 BPM (Adagio (slow)). At half-time that is 35 BPM, and at double-time 140 BPM.
What is the sensory intensity of "Mood Indigo" by Duke Ellington?
"Mood Indigo" by Duke Ellington rates as Low-Intensity. Dynamic range 6/10, no sudden changes, layered texture. Our Low-Intensity rating means no single dimension triggers the higher-intensity thresholds.
How loud is "Mood Indigo" — what is its dynamic range?
"Mood Indigo" has a dynamic range of 6/10. Noticeable climb from quiet sections to loudest point. Set opening volume slightly lower than your preferred peak.
Does "Mood Indigo" have sudden or surprising changes?
No. "Mood Indigo" has no sudden unsignaled changes. Every transition is musically telegraphed.
What is "Mood Indigo" best for?
In our library "Mood Indigo" is recommended for: deep listening, relaxation. These tags are assigned only where the song's sensory profile genuinely supports the use case.
When was "Mood Indigo" released?
"Mood Indigo" is from 1930, on the album "Schmuse-Jazz". It appears in our 1930s catalog.
What is the emotional mood of "Mood Indigo"?
We tag "Mood Indigo" as melancholy, reflective. Moods are tonal descriptors based on how the song reads emotionally — separate from the sensory intensity axes.
What is the vocal style of "Mood Indigo"?
The vocal style is instrumental.
Is "Mood Indigo" good for running?
Not really — at 70 BPM it's below most running cadences. Better for warm-up, cool-down, or walking. Recreational runners typically step at 140-175 BPM.
Is "Mood Indigo" good for studying?
Only partially. The song's dynamic range (6/10) means there will be loud moments that break focus during deep work.
Can I use "Mood Indigo" for sleep?
Not recommended for sleep. Dynamic range is too high — quiet moments will be ambushed by louder ones.
Should I listen to "Mood Indigo"?
If you want gentle, low-arousal music, "Mood Indigo" is a solid pick — Low-Intensity across every sensory dimension.
Songs with the same DNA
layered texture, similar intensity — across any genre or era.
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Where to next?
You know how this one feels — now go find the next one.