Which Term Means the Speed at Which Beats Progress Music?

Tempo is the Italian word for “time” and refers to the speed or the pace of music. Tempo is a key element in any composition, because it can directly affect the mood and overall feeling of a composition. A composer usually has a very specific tempo in mind when writing a piece of music.

Instructions on Tempo

Usually, a musical composition has instructions written on it which tells the performer or conductor how fast it should go. At the beginning of the piece, the tempo is indicated as beats per minute or BPM. The more beats per minute, the faster the piece will go.

This more mathematical approach started in the 19th century when the metronome was invented. The metronome is a machine that has an arm that moves back and forth, making a clicking sound as it goes. The speed can be adjusted according to how many beats per minute you want.

One additional piece of information is needed to know the proper tempo of a work. That would be which kind of note that gets one beat. Usually it is a quarter note that gets one beat, but sometimes it is the half note. This information is also marked at the beginning of a piece.

Composers and the Tempo of Music

Beethoven was the first composer who used the metronome and published the markings for all of his symphonies. However there is a problem with the early tempo designations, since early metronomes were not reliable and a bit inconsistent. Today, with the advanced electronics, we can measure the beats per minute precisely.

Words That Explain the Tempo

Before the metronome, composers had to rely on words to indicate the tempo of a piece. The words are written in Italian because most of the major composers in the 17th century were Italian and during that time, the use of tempo markings became widely used. Here is a sampling of some Italian words which indicate tempo. Remember, the abbreviation BPM means beats per minute.

Slow Tempos

Larghissimo - very, very slow - 20 BPM and below
Largo - broadly - 40 - 60 BPM
Lento - slowly - 40 - 60 BPM
Lento Moderato - moderately slow
Larghetto - rather broadly - 60 - 66 BPM
Adagio - at ease - 66 - 76 BPM
Adagietto - rather slow - 70 - 80 BPM

Moderate Tempos

Andante - walking - 76 - 108 BPM
Andantino - a bit faster than andante
Andante Moderato - slightly faster than andante
Moderato - moderately - 101-110 BPM

Fast Tempos

Allegretto - moderately fast
Allegro Moderato - 112 - 124 BPM
Allegro - brisk - a march tempo - 120 - 139 BPM
Vivace - very lively - around 140 BPM
Allegrissimo - very fast
Presto - very quickly - 168 - 200 BPM
Vivacissimo - very fast and lively
Prestissimo - extremely fast - more than 200 BPM

Some words are added as qualifiers to these basic markings, like:

Alla means “in the style of”, alla marcia means “in the style of a march”
Con means “with”, con moto means “with motion”
Molto means “very”, molto adagio means “very slow”
Non troppo means "not too much"
Llegro non troppo means “fast, but not too much”
Poco a poco means “little by little”
Subito means “suddenly”

In summary, the tempo is the speed of the music. The tempo is usually expressed in Italian at the beginning of the music.