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Tempo

In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or tempi from the Italian plural), also known as beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given composition. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often using conventional Italian terms) and is usually measured in beats per minute (BPM). In modern classical compositions, a "metronome mark" in beats per minute may supplement or replace the normal tempo marking, while in modern genres like electronic dance music, tempo will typically simply be stated in BPM.

Tempo may be separated from articulation and meter, or these aspects may be indicated along with tempo, all contributing to the overall texture. While the ability to hold a steady tempo is a vital skill for a musical performer, tempo is changeable. Depending on the genre of a piece of music and the performers' interpretation, a piece may be played with slight tempo rubato or drastic variances. In ensembles, the tempo is often indicated by a conductor or by one of the instrumentalists, for instance the drummer.

Measurement edit

 
Wittner electronic metronome

Although tempo is described or indicated in many different ways, including with a range of words (e.g., "Slowly", "Adagio", and so on), it is typically measured in beats per minute (bpm or BPM). For example, a tempo of 60 beats per minute signifies one beat per second, while a tempo of 120 beats per minute is twice as rapid, signifying two beats every second. The note value of a beat will typically be that indicated by the denominator of the time signature. For instance, in 4
4
time, the beat will be a crotchet, or quarter note.

This measurement and indication of tempo became increasingly popular during the first half of the 19th century, after Johann Nepomuk Maelzel invented the metronome. Beethoven was one of the first composers to use the metronome; in the 1810s he published metronomic indications for the eight symphonies he had composed up to that time.[1]

With the advent of modern electronics, beats per minute became an extremely precise measure. Music sequencers use the bpm system to denote tempo.[2] In popular music genres such as electronic dance music, accurate knowledge of a tune's bpm is important to DJs for the purposes of beatmatching.[3]

The speed of a piece of music can also be gauged according to measures per minute (mpm) or bars per minute (bpm), the number of measures of the piece performed in one minute. This measure is commonly used in ballroom dance music.[4]

Choosing speed edit

In different musical contexts, different instrumental musicians, singers, conductors, bandleaders, music directors or other individuals will select the tempo of a song or piece. In a popular music or traditional music group or band, the bandleader or drummer may select the tempo. In popular and traditional music, whoever is setting the tempo often counts out one or two bars in tempo. In some songs or pieces in which a singer or solo instrumentalist begins the work with a solo introduction (prior to the start of the full group), the tempo they set will provide the tempo for the group. In an orchestra or concert band, the conductor normally sets the tempo. In a marching band, the drum major may set the tempo. In a sound recording, in some cases a record producer may set the tempo for a song (although this would be less likely with an experienced bandleader). Differences in tempo and its interpretation can differ between cultures, as shown by Curt Sachs when comparing Tunisian with Western Classical melodies, while certain genres display rhythmic variation in line with its forms, as occurs with flamenco and its palos.[5]

Musical vocabulary edit

In classical music, it is customary to describe the tempo of a piece by one or more words, most commonly in Italian, in addition to or instead of a metronome mark in beats per minute. Italian is typically used because it was the language of most composers during the time these descriptions became commonplace in the Western musical lexicon.[6] Some well-known Italian tempo indications include "Allegro" (English "Cheerful"), "Andante" ("Walking-pace") and "Presto" ("Quickly"). This practice developed during the 17th and 18th centuries, the baroque and classical periods. In the earlier Renaissance music, performers understood most music to flow at a tempo defined by the tactus (roughly the rate of the human heartbeat).[7] The mensural time signature indicated which note value corresponded to the tactus.

In the Baroque period, pieces would typically be given an indication, which might be a tempo marking (e.g. Allegro), or the name of a dance (e.g. Allemande or Sarabande), the latter being an indication both of tempo and of metre. Any musician of the time was expected to know how to interpret these markings based on custom and experience. In some cases, however, these markings were simply omitted. For example, the first movement of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 has no tempo or mood indication whatsoever. Despite the increasing number of explicit tempo markings, musicians still observe conventions, expecting a minuet to be at a fairly stately tempo, slower than a Viennese waltz; a perpetuum mobile quite fast, and so on. Genres imply tempos, and thus, Ludwig van Beethoven wrote "In tempo d'un Menuetto" over the first movement of his Piano Sonata Op. 54, though that movement is not a minuet.

Many tempo markings also indicate mood and expression. 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, simply indicates speed. 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").

Often, composers (or music publishers) name movements of compositions after their tempo (or mood) marking. For instance, the second movement of Samuel Barber's first String Quartet is an Adagio.[8]

Basic tempo markings edit

Here follows a list of common tempo markings. The beats per minute (bpm) values are very rough approximations for 4
4
time, and vary widely according to composers and works. A metronome marking cannot be deduced from one of the descriptive Italian or non-Italian terms alone. Where both metronome marking and a word indication occur together, the verbal cue is often also intended to express a style or feeling, which a metronome marking alone cannot do.

It is therefore important to remember that the exact sense of many of these terms has changed over time. One striking example is the use of the term Allegretto. Between its early use in the 18th century and its later use from the 19th century onwards, it has experienced a slight increment in the tempo that it is intended to denote. Originally it implied a tempo very slightly faster than Andante, whereas now it is often used to indicate one that is just a little slower than Allegro. A similar fate has befallen the terms Adagietto and Andantino.[9] Likewise, the terms Largo and Adagio have experienced a considerable shift with regards to the tempi, in beats per minute, that they are required to express: A modern Largo is slower than Adagio, but in the Baroque period it was faster.[10]

Approximately from the slowest to the fastest:

  • Larghissimo – extremely slow, slowest type of tempo (24 bpm and under)
  • Adagissimo and Grave – very slow, very slow and solemn (24–40 bpm)
  • Largo – slow and broad (40–66 bpm)
  • Larghetto – rather slow and broad (44–66 bpm)
  • Adagio – slow with great expression[11] (44–66 bpm)
  • Adagietto – slower than andante or slightly faster than adagio (46–80 bpm)
  • Lento – slow (52–108 bpm)
  • Andante – at a walking pace, moderately slow (56–108 bpm)
  • Andantino – slightly faster than andante, but slower than moderato (80–108 bpm) (although, in some cases, it can be taken to mean slightly slower than andante)
  • Marcia moderato – moderately, in the manner of a march[12] (66–80 bpm)
  • Andante moderato – between andante and moderato (at a moderate walking speed) (80–108 bpm)
  • Moderato – at a moderate speed (108–120 bpm)
  • Allegretto – by the mid-19th century, moderately fast (112–120 bpm); see paragraph above for earlier usage
  • Allegro moderato – close to, but not quite allegro (116–120 bpm)
  • Allegro – fast and bright (120–156 bpm)
  • Molto Allegro or Allegro vivace – at least slightly faster and livelier than allegro, but always at its range (and no faster than vivace) (124–156 bpm)
  • Vivace – lively and fast (156–176 bpm)
  • Vivacissimo and Allegrissimo – very fast, lively and bright (172–176 bpm)
  • Presto – very fast (168–200 bpm)
  • Prestissimo – extremely fast (200 bpm and over)

Additional terms edit

  • A piacere or Ad libitum in Latin – the performer may use their own discretion with regard to tempo and rhythm; literally "at pleasure"[13]
  • Accelerando – gradually play faster
  • Assai – (very) much
  • A tempo – resume previous tempo
  • Con grazia – with grace, or gracefully[14]
  • Con moto – Italian for "with movement"; can be combined with a tempo indication, e.g., Andante con moto
  • Furioso or Furibondo – 'furiously'[15]: 349 
  • Lamentoso – sadly, plaintively[16]
  • L'istesso, L'istesso tempo, or Lo stesso tempo – at the same speed; L'istesso is used when the actual speed of the music has not changed, despite apparent signals to the contrary, such as changes in time signature or note length (half notes in 4
    4
    could change to whole notes in 2
    2
    , and they would all have the same duration)[17][18]
  • Ma non tanto – but not so much; used in the same way and has the same effect as Ma non troppo (see immediately below) but to a lesser degree
  • Ma non troppo – but not too much; used to modify a basic tempo to indicate that the basic tempo should be reined in to a degree; for example, Adagio ma non troppo to mean "Slow, but not too much", Allegro ma non troppo to mean "Fast, but not too much"
  • Maestoso – majestically, stately[19]
  • Molto – very
  • Meno – less
  • Più – more
  • Poco – a little
  • Rall. or "Rallentando" – opposite of Accelerando
  • Subito – suddenly
  • Tempo comodo – at a comfortable speed
  • Tempo di... – the speed of a ... (such as Tempo di valse (speed of a waltz,  . ≈ 60 bpm or   ≈ 126 bpm), Tempo di marcia (speed of a march,   ≈ 120 bpm))
  • Tempo giusto – at a consistent speed, at the 'right' speed, in strict tempo
  • Tempo primo – resume the original (first) tempo
  • Tempo semplice – simple, regular speed, plainly

French tempo markings edit

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:

  • Au mouvement – play the (first or main) tempo.
  • Grave – slowly and solemnly
  • Lent – slowly
  • Moins – less, as in Moins vite (less fast)
  • Modéré – at a moderate tempo
  • Vif – lively
  • Très – very, as in Très vif (very lively)
  • Vite – fast
  • Rapide – rapidly

Erik Satie was known to write extensive tempo (and character) markings by defining them in a poetical and literal way, as in his Gnossiennes.[20]

German tempo markings edit

Many composers have used German tempo markings. Typical German tempo markings are:

  • Kräftig – vigorous or powerful
  • Langsam – slowly
  • Lebhaft – lively (mood)
  • Mäßig – moderately
  • Rasch – quickly
  • Schnell – fast
  • Bewegt – animated, with motion[21]

One of the first German composers to use tempo markings in his native language was Ludwig van Beethoven, but only sparsely. Robert Schumann followed afterwards with increasingly specific markings, and later composers like Hindemith and Mahler would further elaborate on combined tempo and mood instructions in German. For example, the second movement of Mahler's 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 much 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.)[22]

English tempo markings edit

English indications, for example 'quickly', have also been used, by Benjamin Britten and Percy Grainger, among many others. In jazz and popular music lead sheets and fake book charts, terms like 'fast', 'laid back', 'steady rock', 'medium', 'medium-up', 'ballad', 'brisk', 'brightly', 'up', 'slowly', and similar style indications may appear. In some lead sheets and fake books, both tempo and genre are indicated, e.g., 'slow blues', 'fast swing', or 'medium Latin'. The genre indications help rhythm section instrumentalists use the correct style. For example, if a song says 'medium shuffle', the drummer plays a shuffle drum pattern; if it says 'fast boogie-woogie', the piano player plays a boogie-woogie bassline.

'Show tempo', a term used since the early days of vaudeville, describes the traditionally brisk tempo (usually 160–170 bpm) of opening songs in stage revues and musicals.

Humourist Tom Lehrer uses facetious English tempo markings in his anthology Too Many Songs by Tom Lehrer. For example, "National Brotherhood Week" is to be played 'fraternally'; "We Will All Go Together" is marked 'eschatologically'; and 'Masochism Tango' has the tempo 'painstakingly'. His English contemporaries Flanders and Swann have similarly marked scores, with the music for their song "The Whale (Moby Dick)" shown as 'oceanlike and vast'.

Variation through a piece edit

Tempo is not necessarily fixed. Within a piece (or within a movement of a longer work), a composer may indicate a complete change of tempo, often by using a double bar and introducing a new tempo indication, often with a new time signature and/or key signature.

It is also possible to indicate a more or less gradual change in tempo, for instance with an accelerando (speeding up) or ritardando (rit., slowing down) marking. Indeed, some compositions chiefly comprise accelerando passages, for instance Monti's Csárdás, or the Russian Civil War song Echelon Song.

On the smaller scale, tempo rubato refers to changes in tempo within a musical phrase, often described as some notes 'borrowing' time from others.

Terms for change in tempo edit

Composers may use expressive marks to adjust the tempo:

  • Accelerando – speeding up (abbreviation: accel.); the opposite of ritardando. It is defined by gradually increasing the tempo until the next tempo mark is noted. It is either marked by a dashed line or simply its abbreviation.
  • Affrettando – speeding up with a suggestion of anxiety[23]
  • Allargando – growing broader; decreasing tempo, usually near the end of a piece
  • Calando – going slower (and usually also softer)
  • Doppio movimento / doppio più mosso – double-speed
  • Doppio più lento – half-speed
  • Lentando – gradually slowing, and softer
  • Meno mosso – less movement; slower
  • Meno moto – less motion
  • Più mosso – more movement; faster
  • Mosso – movement, more lively; quicker, much like più mosso, but not as extreme
  • Precipitando – hurrying; going faster/forward
  • Rallentando – a gradual slowing down (abbreviation: rall.)
  • Ritardando – slowing down gradually; also see rallentando and ritenuto (abbreviations: rit., ritard.) sometimes replaces allargando.
  • Ritenuto – slightly slower, but achieved more immediately than rallentando or ritardando; a sudden decrease in tempo; temporarily holding back.[24] (Note that the abbreviation for ritenuto can also be rit. Thus a more specific abbreviation is riten. Also, sometimes ritenuto does not reflect a tempo change but rather a 'character' change.)
  • Rubato – free adjustment of tempo for expressive purposes, literally "stolen"—so more strictly, to take time from one beat to slow another
  • Slargando – gradually slowing down, literally "slowing down", "widening" or "stretching"
  • Stretto – in a faster tempo, often used near the conclusion of a section. (Note that in fugal compositions, the term stretto refers to the imitation of the subject in close succession, before the subject is completed, and as such, suitable for the close of the fugue.[25] Used in this context, the term is not necessarily related to tempo.)
  • Stringendo – pressing on faster, literally "tightening"
  • Tardando – slowing down gradually (same as ritardando)[26]
  • Tempo Primo – resume the original tempo[27]

While the base tempo indication (such as Allegro) typically appears in large type above the staff, 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, e.g., assai, molto, poco, subito, control how large and how gradual a change should be (see common qualifiers).

After a tempo change, a composer may return to a previous tempo in two 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 Io – denotes an immediate return to the piece's original base tempo after a section in a different tempo (e.g. Allegro ... Lento ... Moderato ... Tempo Io 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 tend to employ them even if they have written their initial tempo marking in another language.

Tempo–rhythm interaction edit

One difficulty in defining tempo is the dependence of its perception on rhythm, and, conversely, the dependence of rhythm perception on tempo. Furthermore, the tempo-rhythm interaction is context dependent, as explained by Andranik Tangian[28][29] using an example of the leading rhythm of ″Promenade″ from Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition:

     
     

This rhythm is perceived as it is rather than as the first three events repeated at a double tempo (denoted as R012 = repeat from 0, one time, twice faster):

     
R012

However, the motive with this rhythm in the Mussorgsky's piece

     
     

is rather perceived as a repeat

     
R012

This context-dependent perception of tempo and rhythm is explained by the principle of correlative perception, according to which data are perceived in the simplest way. From the viewpoint of Kolmogorov's complexity theory, this means such a representation of the data that minimizes the amount of memory.

The example considered suggests two alternative representations of the same rhythm: as it is, and as the rhythm-tempo interaction — a two-level representation in terms of a generative rhythmic pattern and a "tempo curve". Table 1 displays these possibilities both with and without pitch, assuming that one duration requires one byte of information, one byte is needed for the pitch of one tone, and invoking the repeat algorithm with its parameters R012 takes four bytes. As shown in the bottom row of the table, the rhythm without pitch requires fewer bytes if it is "perceived" as it is, without repetitions and tempo leaps. On the contrary, its melodic version requires fewer bytes if the rhythm is "perceived" as being repeated at a double tempo.

Complexity of representation of time events
Rhythm only Rhythm with pitch
Complete coding Coding as repeat Complete coding Coding as repeat
     
     
     
R012
     
     
     
R012
Complexity of rhythmic pattern 6 bytes 3 bytes 12 bytes 6 bytes
Complexity of its transformation 0 bytes 4 bytes 0 bytes 4 bytes
Total complexity 6 bytes 7 bytes 12 bytes 10 bytes

Thus, the loop of interdependence of rhythm and tempo is overcome due to the simplicity criterion, which "optimally" distributes the complexity of perception between rhythm and tempo. In the above example, the repetition is recognized because of additional repetition of the melodic contour, which results in a certain redundancy of the musical structure, making the recognition of the rhythmic pattern "robust" under tempo deviations. Generally speaking, the more redundant the "musical support" of a rhythmic pattern, the better its recognizability under augmentations and diminutions, that is, its distortions are perceived as tempo variations rather than rhythmic changes:

By taking into account melodic context, homogeneity of accompaniment, harmonic pulsation, and other cues, the range of admissible tempo deviations can be extended further, yet still not preventing musically normal perception. For example, Scriabin's own performance of his "Poem", Op. 32, No. 1, transcribed from a piano-roll recording contains tempo deviations within  . = 19/119, a span of 5.5 times.[30] Such tempo deviations are strictly prohibited, for example, in Bulgarian or Turkish music based on so-called additive rhythms with complex duration ratios, which can also be explained by the principle of correlativity of perception. If a rhythm is not structurally redundant, then even minor tempo deviations are not perceived as accelerando or ritardando but rather given an impression of a change in rhythm, which implies an inadequate perception of musical meaning.[31]

Modern classical music edit

Twentieth-century classical music introduced a wide range of approaches to tempo, particularly thanks to the influence of modernism and later postmodernism.

While many composers have retained traditional tempo markings, sometimes requiring greater precision than in any preceding period, others have begun to question basic assumptions of the classical tradition like the idea of a consistent, unified, repeatable tempo. Graphic scores show tempo and rhythm in a variety of ways. Polytemporal compositions deliberately utilise performers playing at marginally different speeds. John Cage's compositions approach tempo in diverse ways. For instance 4′33″ has a defined duration, but no actual notes, while As Slow as Possible has defined proportions but no defined duration, with one performance intended to last 639 years.

Beatmatching edit

In popular music genres such as disco, house music and electronic dance music, beatmatching is a technique that DJs use that involves speeding up or slowing down a record (or CDJ player, a speed-adjustable CD player for DJ use) to match the tempo of a previous or subsequent track, so both can be seamlessly mixed. Having beatmatched two songs, the DJ can either seamlessly crossfade from one song to another, or play both tracks simultaneously, creating a layered effect.

DJs often beatmatch the underlying tempos of recordings, rather than their strict bpm value suggested by the kick drum, particularly when dealing with high tempo tracks. A 240 bpm track, for example, matches the beat of a 120 bpm track without slowing down or speeding up, because both have an underlying tempo of 120 quarter notes per minute. Thus, some soul music (around 75–90 bpm) mixes well with a drum and bass beat (from 150 to 185 bpm). When speeding up or slowing down a record on a turntable, the pitch and tempo of a track are linked: spinning a disc 10% faster makes both pitch and tempo 10% higher. Software processing to change the pitch without changing the tempo is called pitch-shifting. The opposite operation, changing the tempo without changing the pitch, is called time-stretching.

See also edit

Citations edit

  1. ^ Some of these markings are today contentious, such as those on his "Hammerklavier" Sonata and Ninth Symphony, seeming to many to be almost impossibly fast, as is also the case for many of the works of Schumann. See "metronome" entry in Apel 1969, p. 523.
  2. ^ Hans, Zimmer. "Music 101: What Is Tempo? How Is Tempo Used in Music?". Masterclass. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  3. ^ Velankar, Makarland (2014). "A Pilot Study of Automatic Tempo Measurement in Rhythmic Music".
  4. ^ "E. Rules for Competitions (Couples). Rule E.3 (Music)" (PDF), WDSF Competition Rules (WDSF Rules & Regulations), World DanceSport Federation, 2018-01-01, p. 19, retrieved 2018-01-20, 3.2 The tempi for each dance shall be: Waltz 28‒30 bars/min, Tango 31‒33 bars/min, Viennese Waltz 58‒60 bars/min, Slow Foxtrot 28‒30 bars/min, Quickstep 50‒52 bars/min; Samba 50‒52 bars/min, Cha-Cha-Cha 30‒32 bars/min, Rumba 25‒27 bars/min, Paso Doble 60‒62 bars/min, Jive 42‒44 bars/min.
  5. ^ "Tempo | Definition, Music, Description, & Notation | Britannica". 2 November 2023.
  6. ^ Randel, D., ed., The New Harvard Dictionary of Music, Harvard University Press, 1986, "Tempo"
  7. ^ Haar, James (14 July 2014). The Science and Art of Renaissance Music. Princeton University Press. p. 408. ISBN 978-1-40-086471-3.
  8. ^ Heyman, Barbara B. (1994-05-12). Samuel Barber: the composer and his music. Oxford University Press. p. 158. ISBN 0-19-509058-6.
  9. ^ Charles Rosen suggests that many works marked "Allegretto" are nowadays played too quickly as a result of this confusion.Rosen, Charles (2002). Beethoven's Piano Sonatas: A Short Companion. New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. 48–95. ISBN 0-300-09070-6.
  10. ^ "tempo", music theory online, Dolmetsch.com
  11. ^ Elson, Louis Charles (1909). Elson's Pocket Music Dictionary: The Important Terms Used in Music with Pronunciation and Concise Definition, Together with the Elements of Notation and a Biographical List of Over Five Hundred Noted Names in Music. Oliver Ditson.
  12. ^ William E. Caplin; James Hepokoski; James Webster (2010). Musical Form, Forms & Formenlehre: Three Methodological Reflections. Leuven University Press. p. 80. ISBN 978-905-867-822-5.
  13. ^ Apel 1969, p. 42.
  14. ^ "Con grazia". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  15. ^ Percy A. Scholes (1944). The Oxford Companion to Music, self-indexed and with a pronouncing glossary, 5th ed. London; New York; Toronto: Oxford University Press.
  16. ^ "Lamentoso". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  17. ^ "Istesso tempo" entry in Sadie & Tyrrell 2001
  18. ^ For a modern example of L'istesso, see measures 4 and 130 of "Star Wars (Main Title)", Williams 1997, pp. 3, 30.
  19. ^ "Maestoso". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  20. ^ Gnossiennes music sheet, IMSLP Music Library
  21. ^ Apel 1969, p. 92.
  22. ^ Apel 1969, p. [page needed].
  23. ^ "Affretando". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Vol. 1 (14 ed.). 1930. p. 282.
  24. ^ "Ritenuto" entry in Sadie & Tyrrell 2001
  25. ^ Apel 1969, p. 809.
  26. ^ David Fallows: "Ritardando", in Sadie & Tyrrell 2001
  27. ^ "Tempo Markings – Common Tempos in Italian, German, and French". theonlinemetronome.com. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
  28. ^ Tanguiane [Tangian], Andranick S. (1993). Artificial Perception and Music Recognition. Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence. Vol. 746. Berlin-Heidelberg: Springer. ISBN 978-3-540-57394-4.
  29. ^ Tanguiane [Tangian], A. S. (July 1994). "A principle of correlativity of perception and its application to music recognition". Music Perception. 11 (4): 465–502. doi:10.2307/40285634. JSTOR 40285634.
  30. ^ Skrjabin, Alexander (1960). Poem for piano, Op. 32, No. 1. Transcribed by P. Lobanov. Moscow: Gosudarstvennoye Muzykalnoye Izdatelstvo.
  31. ^ Tangian 1994, p. 480.

Sources

Further reading edit

External links edit

  •   The dictionary definition of tempo at Wiktionary
  • , Virginia Tech Department of Music

tempo, other, uses, disambiguation, beats, minute, redirects, here, other, uses, beats, minute, disambiguation, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, ma. For other uses see Tempo disambiguation Beats per minute redirects here For other uses see Beats per minute disambiguation This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Tempo news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2012 Learn how and when to remove this template message In musical terminology tempo Italian for time plural tempos or tempi from the Italian plural also known as beats per minute is the speed or pace of a given composition In classical music tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece often using conventional Italian terms and is usually measured in beats per minute BPM In modern classical compositions a metronome mark in beats per minute may supplement or replace the normal tempo marking while in modern genres like electronic dance music tempo will typically simply be stated in BPM Tempo may be separated from articulation and meter or these aspects may be indicated along with tempo all contributing to the overall texture While the ability to hold a steady tempo is a vital skill for a musical performer tempo is changeable Depending on the genre of a piece of music and the performers interpretation a piece may be played with slight tempo rubato or drastic variances In ensembles the tempo is often indicated by a conductor or by one of the instrumentalists for instance the drummer Contents 1 Measurement 2 Choosing speed 3 Musical vocabulary 3 1 Basic tempo markings 3 1 1 Additional terms 3 1 2 French tempo markings 3 1 3 German tempo markings 3 1 4 English tempo markings 4 Variation through a piece 4 1 Terms for change in tempo 4 2 Tempo rhythm interaction 5 Modern classical music 6 Beatmatching 7 See also 8 Citations 9 Further reading 10 External linksMeasurement edit nbsp Wittner electronic metronome nbsp A 120 BPM click track source source Problems playing this file See media help Although tempo is described or indicated in many different ways including with a range of words e g Slowly Adagio and so on it is typically measured in beats per minute bpm or BPM For example a tempo of 60 beats per minute signifies one beat per second while a tempo of 120 beats per minute is twice as rapid signifying two beats every second The note value of a beat will typically be that indicated by the denominator of the time signature For instance in 44 time the beat will be a crotchet or quarter note This measurement and indication of tempo became increasingly popular during the first half of the 19th century after Johann Nepomuk Maelzel invented the metronome Beethoven was one of the first composers to use the metronome in the 1810s he published metronomic indications for the eight symphonies he had composed up to that time 1 With the advent of modern electronics beats per minute became an extremely precise measure Music sequencers use the bpm system to denote tempo 2 In popular music genres such as electronic dance music accurate knowledge of a tune s bpm is important to DJs for the purposes of beatmatching 3 The speed of a piece of music can also be gauged according to measures per minute mpm or bars per minute bpm the number of measures of the piece performed in one minute This measure is commonly used in ballroom dance music 4 Choosing speed editIn different musical contexts different instrumental musicians singers conductors bandleaders music directors or other individuals will select the tempo of a song or piece In a popular music or traditional music group or band the bandleader or drummer may select the tempo In popular and traditional music whoever is setting the tempo often counts out one or two bars in tempo In some songs or pieces in which a singer or solo instrumentalist begins the work with a solo introduction prior to the start of the full group the tempo they set will provide the tempo for the group In an orchestra or concert band the conductor normally sets the tempo In a marching band the drum major may set the tempo In a sound recording in some cases a record producer may set the tempo for a song although this would be less likely with an experienced bandleader Differences in tempo and its interpretation can differ between cultures as shown by Curt Sachs when comparing Tunisian with Western Classical melodies while certain genres display rhythmic variation in line with its forms as occurs with flamenco and its palos 5 Musical vocabulary editSee also Glossary of musical terminology In classical music it is customary to describe the tempo of a piece by one or more words most commonly in Italian in addition to or instead of a metronome mark in beats per minute Italian is typically used because it was the language of most composers during the time these descriptions became commonplace in the Western musical lexicon 6 Some well known Italian tempo indications include Allegro English Cheerful Andante Walking pace and Presto Quickly This practice developed during the 17th and 18th centuries the baroque and classical periods In the earlier Renaissance music performers understood most music to flow at a tempo defined by the tactus roughly the rate of the human heartbeat 7 The mensural time signature indicated which note value corresponded to the tactus In the Baroque period pieces would typically be given an indication which might be a tempo marking e g Allegro or the name of a dance e g Allemande or Sarabande the latter being an indication both of tempo and of metre Any musician of the time was expected to know how to interpret these markings based on custom and experience In some cases however these markings were simply omitted For example the first movement of Bach s Brandenburg Concerto No 3 has no tempo or mood indication whatsoever Despite the increasing number of explicit tempo markings musicians still observe conventions expecting a minuet to be at a fairly stately tempo slower than a Viennese waltz a perpetuum mobile quite fast and so on Genres imply tempos and thus Ludwig van Beethoven wrote In tempo d un Menuetto over the first movement of his Piano Sonata Op 54 though that movement is not a minuet Many tempo markings also indicate mood and expression 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 simply indicates speed 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 Often composers or music publishers name movements of compositions after their tempo or mood marking For instance the second movement of Samuel Barber s first String Quartet is an Adagio 8 Basic tempo markings edit Allegretto redirects here For the racehorse see Allegretto horse Allegro Con Brio redirects here For the Soviet film see Allegro Con Brio film Here follows a list of common tempo markings The beats per minute bpm values are very rough approximations for 44 time and vary widely according to composers and works A metronome marking cannot be deduced from one of the descriptive Italian or non Italian terms alone Where both metronome marking and a word indication occur together the verbal cue is often also intended to express a style or feeling which a metronome marking alone cannot do It is therefore important to remember that the exact sense of many of these terms has changed over time One striking example is the use of the term Allegretto Between its early use in the 18th century and its later use from the 19th century onwards it has experienced a slight increment in the tempo that it is intended to denote Originally it implied a tempo very slightly faster than Andante whereas now it is often used to indicate one that is just a little slower than Allegro A similar fate has befallen the terms Adagietto and Andantino 9 Likewise the terms Largo and Adagio have experienced a considerable shift with regards to the tempi in beats per minute that they are required to express A modern Largo is slower than Adagio but in the Baroque period it was faster 10 Approximately from the slowest to the fastest Larghissimo extremely slow slowest type of tempo 24 bpm and under Adagissimo and Grave very slow very slow and solemn 24 40 bpm Largo slow and broad 40 66 bpm Larghetto rather slow and broad 44 66 bpm Adagio slow with great expression 11 44 66 bpm Adagietto slower than andante or slightly faster than adagio 46 80 bpm Lento slow 52 108 bpm Andante at a walking pace moderately slow 56 108 bpm Andantino slightly faster than andante but slower than moderato 80 108 bpm although in some cases it can be taken to mean slightly slower than andante Marcia moderato moderately in the manner of a march 12 66 80 bpm Andante moderato between andante and moderato at a moderate walking speed 80 108 bpm Moderato at a moderate speed 108 120 bpm Allegretto by the mid 19th century moderately fast 112 120 bpm see paragraph above for earlier usage Allegro moderato close to but not quite allegro 116 120 bpm Allegro fast and bright 120 156 bpm Molto Allegro or Allegro vivace at least slightly faster and livelier than allegro but always at its range and no faster than vivace 124 156 bpm Vivace lively and fast 156 176 bpm Vivacissimo and Allegrissimo very fast lively and bright 172 176 bpm Presto very fast 168 200 bpm Prestissimo extremely fast 200 bpm and over Additional terms edit A piacere or Ad libitum in Latin the performer may use their own discretion with regard to tempo and rhythm literally at pleasure 13 Accelerando gradually play faster Assai very much A tempo resume previous tempo Con grazia with grace or gracefully 14 Con moto Italian for with movement can be combined with a tempo indication e g Andante con moto Furioso or Furibondo furiously 15 349 Lamentoso sadly plaintively 16 L istesso L istesso tempo or Lo stesso tempo at the same speed L istesso is used when the actual speed of the music has not changed despite apparent signals to the contrary such as changes in time signature or note length half notes in 44 could change to whole notes in 22 and they would all have the same duration 17 18 Ma non tanto but not so much used in the same way and has the same effect as Ma non troppo see immediately below but to a lesser degree Ma non troppo but not too much used to modify a basic tempo to indicate that the basic tempo should be reined in to a degree for example Adagio ma non troppo to mean Slow but not too much Allegro ma non troppo to mean Fast but not too much Maestoso majestically stately 19 Molto very Meno less Piu more Poco a little Rall or Rallentando opposite of Accelerando Subito suddenly Tempo comodo at a comfortable speed Tempo di the speed of a such as Tempo di valse speed of a waltz nbsp 60 bpm or nbsp 126 bpm Tempo di marcia speed of a march nbsp 120 bpm Tempo giusto at a consistent speed at the right speed in strict tempo Tempo primo resume the original first tempo Tempo semplice simple regular speed plainlyFrench tempo markings edit Several composers have written markings in French among them baroque composers Francois Couperin and Jean Philippe Rameau as well as Claude Debussy Olivier Messiaen Maurice Ravel and Alexander Scriabin Common tempo markings in French are Au mouvement play the first or main tempo Grave slowly and solemnly Lent slowly Moins less as in Moins vite less fast Modere at a moderate tempo Vif lively Tres very as in Tres vif very lively Vite fast Rapide rapidlyErik Satie was known to write extensive tempo and character markings by defining them in a poetical and literal way as in his Gnossiennes 20 German tempo markings edit Many composers have used German tempo markings Typical German tempo markings are Kraftig vigorous or powerful Langsam slowly Lebhaft lively mood Massig moderately Rasch quickly Schnell fast Bewegt animated with motion 21 One of the first German composers to use tempo markings in his native language was Ludwig van Beethoven but only sparsely Robert Schumann followed afterwards with increasingly specific markings and later composers like Hindemith and Mahler would further elaborate on combined tempo and mood instructions in German For example the second movement of Mahler s Symphony No 9 is marked Im Tempo eines gemachlichen Landlers etwas tappisch und sehr derb indicating a slowish folk dance like movement with some awkwardness and much 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 22 English tempo markings edit English indications for example quickly have also been used by Benjamin Britten and Percy Grainger among many others In jazz and popular music lead sheets and fake book charts terms like fast laid back steady rock medium medium up ballad brisk brightly up slowly and similar style indications may appear In some lead sheets and fake books both tempo and genre are indicated e g slow blues fast swing or medium Latin The genre indications help rhythm section instrumentalists use the correct style For example if a song says medium shuffle the drummer plays a shuffle drum pattern if it says fast boogie woogie the piano player plays a boogie woogie bassline Show tempo a term used since the early days of vaudeville describes the traditionally brisk tempo usually 160 170 bpm of opening songs in stage revues and musicals Humourist Tom Lehrer uses facetious English tempo markings in his anthology Too Many Songs by Tom Lehrer For example National Brotherhood Week is to be played fraternally We Will All Go Together is marked eschatologically and Masochism Tango has the tempo painstakingly His English contemporaries Flanders and Swann have similarly marked scores with the music for their song The Whale Moby Dick shown as oceanlike and vast Variation through a piece editTempo is not necessarily fixed Within a piece or within a movement of a longer work a composer may indicate a complete change of tempo often by using a double bar and introducing a new tempo indication often with a new time signature and or key signature It is also possible to indicate a more or less gradual change in tempo for instance with an accelerando speeding up or ritardando rit slowing down marking Indeed some compositions chiefly comprise accelerando passages for instance Monti s Csardas or the Russian Civil War song Echelon Song On the smaller scale tempo rubato refers to changes in tempo within a musical phrase often described as some notes borrowing time from others Terms for change in tempo edit Composers may use expressive marks to adjust the tempo Accelerando speeding up abbreviation accel the opposite of ritardando It is defined by gradually increasing the tempo until the next tempo mark is noted It is either marked by a dashed line or simply its abbreviation Affrettando speeding up with a suggestion of anxiety 23 Allargando growing broader decreasing tempo usually near the end of a piece Calando going slower and usually also softer Doppio movimento doppio piu mosso double speed Doppio piu lento half speed Lentando gradually slowing and softer Meno mosso less movement slower Meno moto less motion Piu mosso more movement faster Mosso movement more lively quicker much like piu mosso but not as extreme Precipitando hurrying going faster forward Rallentando a gradual slowing down abbreviation rall Ritardando slowing down gradually also see rallentando and ritenuto abbreviations rit ritard sometimes replaces allargando Ritenuto slightly slower but achieved more immediately than rallentando or ritardando a sudden decrease in tempo temporarily holding back 24 Note that the abbreviation for ritenuto can also be rit Thus a more specific abbreviation is riten Also sometimes ritenuto does not reflect a tempo change but rather a character change Rubato free adjustment of tempo for expressive purposes literally stolen so more strictly to take time from one beat to slow another Slargando gradually slowing down literally slowing down widening or stretching Stretto in a faster tempo often used near the conclusion of a section Note that in fugal compositions the term stretto refers to the imitation of the subject in close succession before the subject is completed and as such suitable for the close of the fugue 25 Used in this context the term is not necessarily related to tempo Stringendo pressing on faster literally tightening Tardando slowing down gradually same as ritardando 26 Tempo Primo resume the original tempo 27 While the base tempo indication such as Allegro typically appears in large type above the staff 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 Piu 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 e g assai molto poco subito control how large and how gradual a change should be see common qualifiers After a tempo change a composer may return to a previous tempo in two 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 Io denotes an immediate return to the piece s original base tempo after a section in a different tempo e g Allegro Lento Moderato Tempo Io 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 tend to employ them even if they have written their initial tempo marking in another language Tempo rhythm interaction edit This section relies largely or entirely on a single source Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources Find sources Tempo news newspapers books scholar JSTOR February 2024 One difficulty in defining tempo is the dependence of its perception on rhythm and conversely the dependence of rhythm perception on tempo Furthermore the tempo rhythm interaction is context dependent as explained by Andranik Tangian 28 29 using an example of the leading rhythm of Promenade from Modest Mussorgsky s Pictures at an Exhibition nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp This rhythm is perceived as it is rather than as the first three events repeated at a double tempo denoted as R012 repeat from 0 one time twice faster nbsp nbsp nbsp R012 However the motive with this rhythm in the Mussorgsky s piece nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp is rather perceived as a repeat nbsp nbsp nbsp R012 This context dependent perception of tempo and rhythm is explained by the principle of correlative perception according to which data are perceived in the simplest way From the viewpoint of Kolmogorov s complexity theory this means such a representation of the data that minimizes the amount of memory The example considered suggests two alternative representations of the same rhythm as it is and as the rhythm tempo interaction a two level representation in terms of a generative rhythmic pattern and a tempo curve Table 1 displays these possibilities both with and without pitch assuming that one duration requires one byte of information one byte is needed for the pitch of one tone and invoking the repeat algorithm with its parameters R012 takes four bytes As shown in the bottom row of the table the rhythm without pitch requires fewer bytes if it is perceived as it is without repetitions and tempo leaps On the contrary its melodic version requires fewer bytes if the rhythm is perceived as being repeated at a double tempo Complexity of representation of time events Rhythm only Rhythm with pitchComplete coding Coding as repeat Complete coding Coding as repeat nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp R012 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp R012Complexity of rhythmic pattern 6 bytes 3 bytes 12 bytes 6 bytesComplexity of its transformation 0 bytes 4 bytes 0 bytes 4 bytesTotal complexity 6 bytes 7 bytes 12 bytes 10 bytesThus the loop of interdependence of rhythm and tempo is overcome due to the simplicity criterion which optimally distributes the complexity of perception between rhythm and tempo In the above example the repetition is recognized because of additional repetition of the melodic contour which results in a certain redundancy of the musical structure making the recognition of the rhythmic pattern robust under tempo deviations Generally speaking the more redundant the musical support of a rhythmic pattern the better its recognizability under augmentations and diminutions that is its distortions are perceived as tempo variations rather than rhythmic changes By taking into account melodic context homogeneity of accompaniment harmonic pulsation and other cues the range of admissible tempo deviations can be extended further yet still not preventing musically normal perception For example Scriabin s own performance of his Poem Op 32 No 1 transcribed from a piano roll recording contains tempo deviations within nbsp 19 119 a span of 5 5 times 30 Such tempo deviations are strictly prohibited for example in Bulgarian or Turkish music based on so called additive rhythms with complex duration ratios which can also be explained by the principle of correlativity of perception If a rhythm is not structurally redundant then even minor tempo deviations are not perceived as accelerando or ritardando but rather given an impression of a change in rhythm which implies an inadequate perception of musical meaning 31 Modern classical music editTwentieth century classical music introduced a wide range of approaches to tempo particularly thanks to the influence of modernism and later postmodernism While many composers have retained traditional tempo markings sometimes requiring greater precision than in any preceding period others have begun to question basic assumptions of the classical tradition like the idea of a consistent unified repeatable tempo Graphic scores show tempo and rhythm in a variety of ways Polytemporal compositions deliberately utilise performers playing at marginally different speeds John Cage s compositions approach tempo in diverse ways For instance 4 33 has a defined duration but no actual notes while As Slow as Possible has defined proportions but no defined duration with one performance intended to last 639 years Beatmatching editMain article Beatmatching In popular music genres such as disco house music and electronic dance music beatmatching is a technique that DJs use that involves speeding up or slowing down a record or CDJ player a speed adjustable CD player for DJ use to match the tempo of a previous or subsequent track so both can be seamlessly mixed Having beatmatched two songs the DJ can either seamlessly crossfade from one song to another or play both tracks simultaneously creating a layered effect DJs often beatmatch the underlying tempos of recordings rather than their strict bpm value suggested by the kick drum particularly when dealing with high tempo tracks A 240 bpm track for example matches the beat of a 120 bpm track without slowing down or speeding up because both have an underlying tempo of 120 quarter notes per minute Thus some soul music around 75 90 bpm mixes well with a drum and bass beat from 150 to 185 bpm When speeding up or slowing down a record on a turntable the pitch and tempo of a track are linked spinning a disc 10 faster makes both pitch and tempo 10 higher Software processing to change the pitch without changing the tempo is called pitch shifting The opposite operation changing the tempo without changing the pitch is called time stretching See also editA capriccio Alla breve As Slow as Possible Bell pattern Half time music Multitemporal music Stop timeCitations edit Some of these markings are today contentious such as those on his Hammerklavier Sonata and Ninth Symphony seeming to many to be almost impossibly fast as is also the case for many of the works of Schumann See metronome entry in Apel 1969 p 523 Hans Zimmer Music 101 What Is Tempo How Is Tempo Used in Music Masterclass Retrieved 22 January 2020 Velankar Makarland 2014 A Pilot Study of Automatic Tempo Measurement in Rhythmic Music E Rules for Competitions Couples Rule E 3 Music PDF WDSF Competition Rules WDSF Rules amp Regulations World DanceSport Federation 2018 01 01 p 19 retrieved 2018 01 20 3 2 The tempi for each dance shall be Waltz 28 30 bars min Tango 31 33 bars min Viennese Waltz 58 60 bars min Slow Foxtrot 28 30 bars min Quickstep 50 52 bars min Samba 50 52 bars min Cha Cha Cha 30 32 bars min Rumba 25 27 bars min Paso Doble 60 62 bars min Jive 42 44 bars min Tempo Definition Music Description amp Notation Britannica 2 November 2023 Randel D ed The New Harvard Dictionary of Music Harvard University Press 1986 Tempo Haar James 14 July 2014 The Science and Art of Renaissance Music Princeton University Press p 408 ISBN 978 1 40 086471 3 Heyman Barbara B 1994 05 12 Samuel Barber the composer and his music Oxford University Press p 158 ISBN 0 19 509058 6 Charles Rosen suggests that many works marked Allegretto are nowadays played too quickly as a result of this confusion Rosen Charles 2002 Beethoven s Piano Sonatas A Short Companion New Haven Yale University Press pp 48 95 ISBN 0 300 09070 6 tempo music theory online Dolmetsch com Elson Louis Charles 1909 Elson s Pocket Music Dictionary The Important Terms Used in Music with Pronunciation and Concise Definition Together with the Elements of Notation and a Biographical List of Over Five Hundred Noted Names in Music Oliver Ditson William E Caplin James Hepokoski James Webster 2010 Musical Form Forms amp Formenlehre Three Methodological Reflections Leuven University Press p 80 ISBN 978 905 867 822 5 Apel 1969 p 42 Con grazia Merriam Webster Retrieved 8 October 2021 Percy A Scholes 1944 The Oxford Companion to Music self indexed and with a pronouncing glossary 5th ed London New York Toronto Oxford University Press Lamentoso Merriam Webster Retrieved 8 October 2021 Istesso tempo entry in Sadie amp Tyrrell 2001 For a modern example of L istesso see measures 4 and 130 of Star Wars Main Title Williams 1997 pp 3 30 Maestoso Merriam Webster Retrieved 8 October 2021 Gnossiennes music sheet IMSLP Music Library Apel 1969 p 92 Apel 1969 p page needed Affretando Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 1 14 ed 1930 p 282 Ritenuto entry in Sadie amp Tyrrell 2001 Apel 1969 p 809 David Fallows Ritardando in Sadie amp Tyrrell 2001 Tempo Markings Common Tempos in Italian German and French theonlinemetronome com Retrieved 2019 08 16 Tanguiane Tangian Andranick S 1993 Artificial Perception and Music Recognition Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence Vol 746 Berlin Heidelberg Springer ISBN 978 3 540 57394 4 Tanguiane Tangian A S July 1994 A principle of correlativity of perception and its application to music recognition Music Perception 11 4 465 502 doi 10 2307 40285634 JSTOR 40285634 Skrjabin Alexander 1960 Poem for piano Op 32 No 1 Transcribed by P Lobanov Moscow Gosudarstvennoye Muzykalnoye Izdatelstvo Tangian 1994 p 480 Sources Apel Willi ed 1969 Harvard Dictionary of Music 2nd revised and enlarged ed Cambridge Massachusetts Belknap Press ISBN 978 0 674 37501 7 Sadie Stanley Tyrrell John eds 2001 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians 2nd ed Macmillan ISBN 1 56159 239 0 Williams John 1997 Star Wars Suite for Orchestra Milwaukee Hal Leonard ISBN 978 0 793 58208 2 Further reading editEpstein David 1995 Shaping Time Music the Brain and Performance New York Schirmer Books ISBN 0 02 873320 7 Marty Jean Pierre 1988 The Tempo Indications of Mozart New Haven Yale University Press ISBN 0 300 03852 6 Sachs Curt 1953 Rhythm and Tempo A Study in Music History New York Norton OCLC 391538 Snoman Rick 2009 The Dance Music Manual Tools Toys and Techniques 2nd ed Oxford UK Elsevier Press ISBN 0 9748438 4 9 External links edit nbsp The dictionary definition of tempo at Wiktionary Tempo Terminology Virginia Tech Department of Music Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Tempo amp oldid 1217219505 Beats per minute, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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