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In Musical Terminology, tempo (Italian for "time") is the speed or pace of a given piece. It is an extremely crucial element of sound, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.
Measuring tempo[]
The tempo of a piece will typically be written at the start of a piece of music, and in modern music is usually indicated in beats per minute (BPM). This means that a particular note value (for example, a quarter note) is specified as the beat, and the marking indicates that a certain number of these beats must be played per minute. For example Q=120 means play 120 quarter notes per minute.
Basic Italian tempo markings[]
- Grave - very slowly and almost solemn
- Adagio - slowly
- Largo - slowly and broadly
- Lento - "slow" but usually only moderately so
- Andante - at a walking pace
- Moderato - at a moderate tempo, neither fast nor slow
- Allegretto - "a little allegro", understood to be not quite as fast as allegro
- Allegro - quickly
- Vivace - very fast, lively and brisk
- Presto - fast
- Prestissimo - very, very fast.