Musical tempo



In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for time, movement) is the speed or pace of a given piece. It is an extremely crucial element of composition, 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. 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. Beethoven was the first composer to use the metronome, and in 1817 he published metronomic indications for his (then) eight symphonies. Unfortunately, the metronome markings on his "Hammerklavier" Sonata and Ninth Symphony are almost impossibly fast, as is also the case for many of the works of Schumann.

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.

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.

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.

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. 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.

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").

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. For example, the first movement of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 has no tempo or mood indication whatsoever. 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. Which note value corresponded to the tactus was indicated by the mensural time signature.

Often a particular musical form or genre implies its own tempo, so no further explanation is placed in the score. 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. 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. 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.

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.

Italian tempo markings
The definitions of the Italian tempo markings mentioned in this section can be found in the Harvard Dictionary of Music and/or the online Italian-English dictionary, both of which are listed in Sources.

Basic tempo markings
From fastest to slowest, the common tempo markings are:
 * Prestissimo — extremely fast (more than 200bpm)
 * 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 gracefully
 * Moderato — moderately (108–120 bpm)
 * Moderato espressivo — moderately with expression
 * Andantino — alternatively faster or slower than andante
 * Andante Moderato — a bit faster 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)
 * Larghetto — rather broadly (60–66 bpm)
 * Grave — slow and solemn
 * Lento — very slow (40–60 bpm)
 * Lento Moderato - moderately slow
 * Largo — very slow (40–60 bpm), like lento
 * Larghissimo — very very slow (20 bpm and below)

Articulation Terms:


 * Marcato — marching tempo, marked with emphasis
 * Misterioso — slightly slower than marcato
 * Tempo comodo — at a comfortable speed
 * Tempo giusto — at a consistent speed
 * L'istesso tempo — at the same speed
 * Non troppo — not too much (such as 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 (such as Molto allegro)
 * Poco — a little (such as Poco allegro)
 * Quasi — as if (such as Più allegro quasi presto, "faster, as if presto")
 * tempo di... — the speed of a ... (such as Tempo di valse (speed of a waltz), Tempo di marcia (speed of a march))
 * Con brio — lively

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.

Note: 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
Note: In addition to the common allegretto, composers freely apply Italian diminutive and superlative suffixes to various tempo indications: andantino, larghetto, adagietto, and larghissimo.
 * assai — very, very much, as in Allegro assai (but also understood by some as "enough")
 * con brio — with vigour or spirit
 * con fuoco — with fire
 * con moto — with motion
 * 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

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


 * Affettuoso — with feeling/emotion
 * Agitato — agitated, with implied quickness
 * Appassionata — to play passionately
 * Dolce — sweetly
 * Espressivo — expressively
 * Furioso — to play in an angry or furious manner
 * Giocoso — merrily
 * Lacrimoso — tearfully, sadly
 * 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.)
 * 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 instruments) in the middle of the grand staff.

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 is:


 * 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 ... Moderato .... Tempo I" indicates a return to the Allegro). This indication often functions as a structural marker in pieces in binary form.

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
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. The definitions of the tempo markings mentioned in this section can be found in the Harvard Dictionary of Music and/or the online foreign language dictionaries which are listed in Sources.

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. 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.

German tempo markings
Many composers have used German tempo markings. 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. 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. 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. Heftig, aber markig'' (Energetically quick, but not too much. Violent, but vigorous ).

Tempo markings in English
English indications, for example quickly, have also been used, by Benjamin Britten and Percy Grainger, among many others. In jazz and popular music charts, terms like "fast", "laid back", "steady rock", "medium", "medium-up", "ballad", and similar style indications may appear.

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. For instance the second movement of Samuel Barber's first String Quartet is an "Adagio".

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. A similar example is Mahler's most famous work - the Adagietto from his Symphony No. 5. 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. 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.

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.

Rushing and dragging
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.

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