Discovering Tempo

The definition of tempo is the speed of a given piece. The speed that a song goes is important because it can affect the mood of the song.

In some music a word is used to tell you how slow or fast to play the song. Some common tempo words are:

Adagio - slow and stately
Allegretto - moderately fast
Allegro - fast and bright, a march tempo
Andante - at a walking pace
Andanate Moderato - a bit faster than andanate
Grave - slow and solemn
Larghetto - rather broadly
Largo - very slow
Lento - very slow
Moderato expressivo - moderately with expression
Prestissimo - extremely fast
Presto - very fast
Sostenuto - sustained, prolonged
Tranquillo - tranquil, calm
Vivace - lively and fast
Vivo - lively and alive

You may also see at the beginning of a song a tempo marking such as a quarter note then the equal sign and a number such as 120. This is telling you that the quarter notes speed is 120 on your metronome.

1. In modern music, what does BPM mean?

2. In Renaissance music it was understood that the music flowed at a tempo about the rate of a human heartbeat. The word used was tactus. Which note value was the tactus was shown by the what?

The answers to the two above questions are at the bottom of this blog.

More Discovery:

1. Is your summer a fast paced summer or a slow and relaxed one? What would the 'time signature' of your summer be? What above tempo word would you use to describe your summer? Would you have several tempo markings or words for your summer?

2. Summer vacation is relaxing. Summer vacation is also happy times of swimming at the beach, or taking vacations to different places. What is your summer like? Write a poem about your summer or a part of your summer. What would the tempo of your poem be?

If you have a question you would like me to answer about learning music please email me at Catherines.Music.Notes@gmail.com or Music.By.Catherine@gmail.com

Catherine
"Music lessons should be about the student. Each student learns in different ways, and at different speeds. Music is a journey, and on that journey, we will work and learn together." - Catherine

Books with CDs include:
Impressions Volume One and Two
Marches

CDs include:
Wedding Bells
Lullabies

http://sites.google.com/site/musicbycatherine
www.ShoutLife.com/ClassyKeys
http://catherinesmusicnotes.blogspot.com


Answers
1. Beats per minute
2. time signature