The first two measures of Mozart's Sonata XI, which indicates the tempo as "Andante grazioso" and a modern editor's metronome marking: "♪ = 120".

In musical terminology, tempo for "time", from Latin Tempus) is the speed or pace of a given piece. This is a list of musical terms that are likely to be encountered in printed scores Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Musical composition is an original piece of Music the structure of a musical piece the process of creating a new It is an extremely crucial element of sound, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.

The plural of tempo in Italian is tempi. Some writers employ this plural when writing in English. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Others use the native English plural tempos. Standard dictionaries reflect both usages.

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 or crotchet) is specified as the beat, and the marking indicates that a certain number of these beats must be played per minute. The greater the tempo, the larger the number of beats that must be played in a minute is and, therefore, the faster a piece must be played. Mathematical tempo markings of this kind became increasingly popular during the first half of the 19th century, after the metronome had been invented by Johann Nepomuk Mälzel, although early metronomes were somewhat inconsistent. A metronome is any device that produces a regulated aural visual or tactile pulse to establish a steady Tempo in the performance of music Some people consider Beethoven's metronome markings, in particular, to be notoriously unreliable.

With the advent of modern electronics, BPM became an extremely precise measure. MIDI files and other types of sequencing software use the BPM system to denote tempo. MIDI ( Musical Instrument Digital Interface, ˈmɪdi is an industry-standard protocol that enables Electronic musical instruments Computers

As an alternative to metronome markings, some 20th century composers (such as Béla Bartók and John Cage) would give the total execution time of a piece, from which the proper tempo can be roughly derived. Béla Viktor János Bartók (March 25 1881&ndashSeptember 26 1945 was a Hungarian Composer and Pianist, considered to be one of the greatest WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> John Milton Cage Jr

Tempo is as crucial in contemporary music as it is in classical. In electronic dance music, accurate knowledge of a tune's BPM is important to DJs for the purposes of beatmatching. Synonyms Since around the mid-1980s electronic dance music has enjoyed popularity in many Nightclubs and as of 2006 is the predominant type of music played in A disc jockey (also known as DJ or deejay) is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience Beatmatching is a Disc jockey technique of Pitch shifting or Timestretching a track to match its Tempo to that of the currently playing track

Musical vocabulary for tempo

Whether a music piece has a mathematical time indication or not, in classical music it is customary to describe the tempo of a piece by one or more words. Classical music is a broad term that usually refers to mainstream music produced in or rooted in the traditions of Western liturgical and Secular music Most of these words are Italian, a result of the fact that many of the most important composers of the 17th century were Italian, and this period was when tempo indications were used extensively for the first time. Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. A composer (literally meaning 'one who puts together' is a person who creates Music, usually in the medium of notation, for Interpretation and Performance As a means of recording the passage of Time, the 17th Century was that Century which lasted from 1601 - 1700 in the Gregorian calendar

Before the metronome, words were the only way to describe the tempo of a composition. Yet after the metronome's invention, these words continued to be used, often additionally indicating the mood of the piece, thus blurring the traditional distinction between tempo and mood indicators. For example, presto and allegro both indicate a speedy execution (presto being faster), but allegro also connotes joy (from its original meaning in Italian). Presto, on the other hand, indicates speed as such (while possibly connoting virtuosity, a connotation it did not acquire until the late 18th century).

Additional Italian words also indicate tempo and mood. For example, the "agitato" in the Allegro agitato of the last movement of George Gershwin's piano concerto in F has both a tempo indication (undoubtedly faster than a usual Allegro) and a mood indication ("agitated"). George Gershwin (September 26 1898 &ndash July 11 1937 was an American Composer. Concerto in F is a composition by George Gershwin for solo piano and orchestra which is closer in form to a traditional Concerto than the earlier

Understood tempos

In some cases (quite often up to the end of the Baroque period), conventions governing musical composition were so strong that no tempo had to be indicated. Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 and 1750. For example, the first movement of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 has no tempo or mood indication whatsoever. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section.2 This article is written in British English including maximised use of "-ise" The Brandenburg concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach ( BWV 1046&ndash1051 original title Six Concerts Avec plusieurs Instruments) are a To provide movement names, publishers of recordings resort to ad hoc measures, for instance marking the Brandenburg movement "Allegro", "(Allegro)", "(Without indication)", and so on.

In Renaissance music most music was understood to flow at a tempo defined by the tactus, roughly the rate of the human heartbeat. Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance, approximately 1400 - 1600 In Music, a pulse or tactus is beat (a series of identical yet distinct periodic short-duration stimuli perceived as points in Time Which note value corresponded to the tactus was indicated by the mensural time signature. The time signature (also known as " meter signature" is a notational convention used in Western Musical notation to specify how many beats

Often a particular musical form or genre implies its own tempo, so no further explanation is placed in the score. The term musical form refers to two related concepts the type of composition (for example a musical work can have the form of a Symphony, a A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other Thus musicians expect a minuet to be performed at a fairly stately tempo, slower than a Viennese waltz; a Perpetuum Mobile to be quite fast, and so on. A minuet, sometimes spelled menuet, is a Social dance of French origin for two persons usually in 3/4 time. Viennese Waltz (Wiener Walzer is the genre of a Ballroom dance. Perpetuum mobile ( Latin) moto perpetuo ( Italian) mouvement perpétuel ( French) literally meaning Genres can be used to imply tempos; thus Ludwig van Beethoven wrote "In tempo d'un Menuetto" over the first movement of his Piano Sonata Op. Ludwig van Beethoven ( English ˈlʊdvɪg væn ˈbeɪtoʊvən, 16 December 1770 &ndash 26 March 1827 was a German Composer and Pianist. 54, although that movement is not a minuet. Popular music charts use terms such as "bossa nova", "ballad", and "Latin rock" in much the same way. Popular music is Music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are accessible to the general public and are disseminated by one or more

It is important to remember when interpreting these words that not only have tempos changed over historical time, and even in different places, but sometimes even the ordering of terms has changed. Thus a modern largo is slower than an adagio, but in the Baroque period it was faster^[1].

Italian tempo markings

See also: Italian musical terms used in English and Glossary of musical terminology

Basic tempo markings

From fastest to slowest, the common tempo markings are:

• Prestissimo — extremely fast (200 - 208 bpm)
• Vivacissimamente — adverb of vivacissimo, "very quickly and lively"
• Vivacissimo — very fast and lively
• Presto — very fast (168 - 200 bpm)
• Allegrissimo — very fast
• Vivo — lively and fast
• Vivace — lively and fast (~140 bpm)
• Allegro — fast and bright or "march tempo" (120 - 168 bpm)
• Allegro moderato — moderately quick (112 - 124 bpm)
• Allegretto — moderately fast (but less so than allegro)
• Allegretto grazioso — moderately fast and with grace
• Moderato — moderately (108 - 120 bpm)
• Moderato con espressivo — moderately with expression
• Andantino — alternatively faster or slower than andante
• Andante — at a walking pace (76 - 108 bpm)
• Tranquillamente — adverb of tranquillo, "tranquilly"
• Tranquillo — tranquil
• Adagietto — rather slow (70 - 80 bpm)
• Adagio — slow and stately (literally, "at ease") (66 - 76 bpm)
• Grave — slow and solemn
• Larghetto — rather broadly (60 - 66 bpm)
• Largo — Very slow (40 - 60 bpm), like lento
• Lento — very slow (40 - 60 bpm)
• Largamente/Largo — "broadly", very slow (40 bpm and below)
• Larghissimo — very slow (20 bpm and below)

Other terms include:

• Marcato — marching tempo
• Misterioso - slightly slower than marcato
• Tempo commodo — at a comfortable speed
• Tempo giusto — at a consistent speed
• L'istesso tempo — at the same speed
• Non troppo — not too much (e. A great many Musical terms are in Italian. It shouldn't be surprising that so many musical terms are Italian, since many of the most important early Composers This is a list of musical terms that are likely to be encountered in printed scores g. Allegro ma non troppo, "fast but not too much")
• Assai — rather, very, enough as is needed (e. g. Adagio assai)
• Con — with (e. g. Andante con moto, "at a walking pace with motion")
• Molto — much, very (e. g. Molto allegro)
• Poco — a little (e. g. Poco allegro)
• Quasi — as if (e. g. Più allegro quasi presto, "faster, as if presto")
• tempo di. . . — the speed of a . . . (e. g. Tempo di valse (speed of a waltz), Tempo di marzo/marcia (speed of a march))

All of these markings are based on a few root words such as 'allegro', 'largo', 'adagio', 'vivace', 'presto' 'andante' and 'lento'. By adding the -issimo ending the word is amplified, by adding the -ino ending the word is diminished, and by adding the -etto ending the word is endeared. Many tempos also can be translated with the same meaning, and it is up to the player to interpret the speed that best suits the period, composer, and individual work.

N. B. Metronome markings are a guide only and depending on the time signature and the piece itself these figures may not be appropriate in every circumstance.

Common qualifiers

• assai — very, very much, as in Allegro assai (but also understood by some as "enough")
• con brio — with vigour or spirit
• con moto — with movement
• non troppo — not too much, e. g. Allegro non troppo (or Allegro ma non troppo) means "Fast, but not too much. "
• non tanto — not so much
• molto — much, very, as in Molto allegro (very fast and bright) or Adagio molto
• poco — slightly, little, as in Poco adagio
• più — more, as in Più allegro; used as a relative indication when the tempo changes
• meno — less, as in Meno presto
• poco a poco — little by little
• In addition to the common allegretto, composers freely apply Italian diminutive and superlative suffixes to various tempo indications: andantino, larghetto, adagietto, and larghissimo. A diminutive is a formation of a Word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning smallness of the object or quality named encapsulation intimacy or endearment In Grammar the superlative of an Adjective or Adverb is the greatest form of adjective or adverb which indicates that something has some feature In Grammar, a suffix (also postfix, ending) is an Affix which is placed at the end of a word

Mood markings with a tempo connotation

Some markings that primarily mark a mood (or character) also have a tempo connotation:

• Agitato — agitated, with implied quickness
• Appasionato — to play passionately
• Dolce — sweetly
• Espressivo - expressively
• Furioso — to play in an angry or furious manner
• Giocoso — merrily
• Maestoso — majestic or stately (which generally indicates a solemn, slow movement)
• Morendo — dying
• Sostenuto — sustained, sometimes with a slackening of tempo
• Scherzando — playful
• Vivace — lively and fast, over 140 bpm (which generally indicates a fast movement)

Terms for change in tempo

Composers may use expressive marks to adjust the tempo:

• Accelerando — speeding up (abbreviation: accel. This is a list of musical terms that are likely to be encountered in printed scores This is a list of musical terms that are likely to be encountered in printed scores Furioso was an influential sire of jumping horses and is found in the pedigrees of many top show jumpers today Maestoso (maeˈstoso is an Italian musical term used as a directive to play a certain passage of music in a stately dignified and majestic fashion (march-like In Music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a Sound or note, but can also refer to every aspect of the execution of a given piece either stylistic In Music, sostenuto is a term from Italian which means "sustained" and occasionally also implies a slowing of Tempo. This is a list of musical terms that are likely to be encountered in printed scores Vivace is Italian for "quick and lively" Vivace is used as an Italian musical term indicating a movement that is in a lively Mood )
• Allargando — growing broader; decreasing tempo, usually near the end of a piece
• Meno mosso — less movement or slower
• Mosso — movement, more lively, or quicker, much like più mosso, but not as extreme
• Più mosso — more movement or faster
• Rallentando — slowing down, especially near the end of a section (abbreviation: rall. )
• Ritardando — slowing down (abbreviation: rit. or more specifically, ritard. )
• Ritenuto — slightly slower; temporarily holding back. (Note that the abbreviation for ritardando can also be rit. Thus a more specific abbreviation is riten. Also sometimes ritenuto does not reflect a tempo change but a character change instead. )
• Rubato — free adjustment of tempo for expressive purposes
• Stretto — rushing ahead; temporarily speeding up
• Stringendo — pressing on faster

While the base tempo indication (such as allegro) appears in large type above the staff, these adjustments typically appear below the staff or (in the case of keyboard instrument) in the middle of the grand staff. Tempo rubato (Italian stolen time) is a musical term for slightly speeding up or slowing down the Tempo of a piece at the discretion of the soloist

They generally designate a gradual change in tempo; for immediate tempo shifts, composers normally just provide the designation for the new tempo. (Note, however, that when Più Mosso or Meno Mosso appears in large type above the staff, it functions as a new tempo, and thus implies an immediate change. ) Several terms control how large and how gradual this change are:

• poco a poco — bit by bit, gradually
• subito — suddenly
• poco — a little
• molto — a lot
• assai — quite a lot, very

After a tempo change, a composer may return to a previous tempo in two different ways:

• a tempo - returns to the base tempo after an adjustment (e. g. "ritardando . . . a tempo" undoes the effect of the ritardando).
• Tempo primo or Tempo I - denotes an immediate return to the piece's original base tempo after a section in a different tempo (e. g. "Allegro . . . Lento . . . Tempo I" indicates a return to the Allegro). This indication often functions as a structural marker in pieces in binary form. This article is about the musical form See Binary numeral system for the mathematical term

These terms also indicate an immediate, not a gradual, tempo change. Although they are Italian, composers typically use them even if they have written their initial tempo marking in some other language.

Tempo markings in other languages

See also: Glossary of musical terminology

Although Italian has been the prevalent language for tempo markings throughout most of classical music history, many composers have written tempo indications in their own language. This is a list of musical terms that are likely to be encountered in printed scores

French tempo markings

Several composers have written markings in French, among them baroque composers François Couperin and Jean-Philippe Rameau as well as Claude Debussy, Olivier Messiaen, Maurice Ravel and Alexander Scriabin. François Couperin (fʀɑ̃swa kuˈpʀɛ̃ (November 10 1668 &ndash September 11 1733 was a French Baroque composer organist and harpsichordist Jean-Philippe Rameau (ʒɑ̃filip ʀaˈmo in French (September 25 1683 – September 12 1764 was one of the most important French Composers and music theorists Achille-Claude Debussy (aʃil klod dəbysi (August 22 1862 &ndash March 25 1918 was a French Composer. Olivier Messiaen ( December 10 1908 &ndash April 27 1992 was a French Composer, organist and ornithologist. Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin (Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Скря́бин Aleksandr Nikolaevič Skrjabin; sometimes transliterated as Skriabin Common tempo markings in French are:

• Grave — slowly and solemnly
• Lent — slowly
• Modéré — at a moderate tempo
• Vif — lively
• Vite — fast
• Rapide — fast
• Très — very, as in Très vif (very lively)
• Moins — less, as in Moins vite (less fast)
• Au mouvement — play the (first or main) tempo. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people

German tempo markings

Many composers have used German tempo markings. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Typical German tempo markings are:

• Langsam — slowly
• Mäßig — moderately
• Lebhaft — lively (mood)
• Rasch — quickly
• Schnell — fast

One of the first German composers to use tempo markings in his native language was Ludwig van Beethoven. Ludwig van Beethoven ( English ˈlʊdvɪg væn ˈbeɪtoʊvən, 16 December 1770 &ndash 26 March 1827 was a German Composer and Pianist. The one using the most elaborate combined tempo and mood markings was probably Gustav Mahler. For example, the second movement of his Symphony No. 9 is marked Im tempo eines gemächlichen Ländlers, etwas täppisch und sehr derb, indicating a slowish folk-dance–like movement, with some awkwardness and vulgarity in the execution. A movement is a self-contained part of a Musical composition or Musical form. The Symphony No 9 in D major by the Composer Gustav Mahler was written in 1909 and 1910 and was the last Symphony that he completed Mahler would also sometimes combine German tempo markings with traditional Italian markings, as in the first movement of his sixth symphony, marked Allegro energico, ma non troppo. The Symphony No 6 in A minor by Gustav Mahler, sometimes referred to as the Tragische ("Tragic" was composed between 1903 and 1904 (rev Heftig, aber markig.

Tempo markings in English

English indications, for example quickly, have also been used, by Benjamin Britten, among many others. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Edward Benjamin Britten Baron Britten, OM CH (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976 was an English Composer, conductor, In jazz and popular music charts, terms like "fast", "laid back", "steady rock", "medium", "medium-up", "ballad", and similar style indications may appear. Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States Popular music is Music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are accessible to the general public and are disseminated by one or more

Tempo markings as movement names and compositions with a tempo indicator name

Generally, composers (or music publishers) will name movements of compositions after their tempo (and/or mood) marking. This article deals with contemporary Popular music publishing A movement is a self-contained part of a Musical composition or Musical form. For instance the second movement of Samuel Barber's first String Quartet is an "Adagio". "Adagio for Strings" is a work for String orchestra, arranged by the American Composer Samuel Barber from his first string quartet

Some such movements may start to lead a life of their own, and become known with the tempo/mood marker name, for instance the string orchestra version of the second movement of Barber's first string quartet became known as Adagio for Strings. "Adagio for Strings" is a work for String orchestra, arranged by the American Composer Samuel Barber from his first string quartet A similar example is Mahler's most famous work - the Adagietto from his Symphony No. 5. The Symphony No 5 by Gustav Mahler was written in 1901 and 1902 mostly during the summer months at Mahler's cottage at Maiernigg. The Symphony No 5 by Gustav Mahler was written in 1901 and 1902 mostly during the summer months at Mahler's cottage at Maiernigg. Another is Mozart's Alla Turca (here indicating the Janissary music type of mood of the final movement of Mozart's 11th Piano Sonata, K. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 's Piano Sonata No 11 in A major K 331 (300i is a sonata in three movements Andante The Janissaries (derived from Ottoman Turkish ينيچرى ( yeniçeri) meaning "new soldier" comprised Infantry units that formed 331)

Sometimes the link between a musical composition with a "tempo" name and a separate movement of a composition is less clear. For instance Albinoni's Adagio, a 20th century creative "reconstruction" based on an incomplete manuscript. Adagio in G minor for strings and organ is a piece composed by Remo Giazotto and first published in 1958

Some composers chose to include tempo indicators in the name of a separate composition, for instance Bartók in Allegro barbaro ("barbaric Allegro"), a single movement composition. Béla Viktor János Bartók (March 25 1881&ndashSeptember 26 1945 was a Hungarian Composer and Pianist, considered to be one of the greatest Allegro barbaro for Piano BB 63 (Sz 49 composed in 1911 is one of Béla Bartók 's most famous and frequently performed solo piano pieces

Rushing and dragging

metronome, Wittner model

metronome, Seth Thomas model

When performers unintentionally speed up, they are said to rush. The similar term for unintentionally slowing down is drag.

Unless practiced by an experienced performer to achieve a particular musical effect, these actions are undesirable; dragging can often indicate a hesitance in the performer due to lack of practice; rushing can likewise destroy the pulse of the music.

Because of their negative connotation, neither rush nor drag (nor their equivalents in other languages) are often used as tempo indications in scores, Mahler being a notable exception: as part of a tempo indication he used schleppend (dragging) in the first movement of his Symphony No. 1, for example. The Symphony No 1 in D major is a Symphony by Gustav Mahler first composed between 1888 and 1894.

By practicing with a metronome a musician can try to gain control over rushing or dragging.

References

External links

• An accurate algorithm to measure the tempo using a digital computer
• Research group specializing in rhythm, timing, and tempo, University of Amsterdam
• Tempo indications in Mozart's music
• Tempo Terminology, Virginia Tech department of music
• Tempo variation among and within 300+ recorded performances of Beethoven's 'Eroica' Symphony
• Dolmetsch article on tempo