Tempo facts for kids

This music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart shows "Andante grazioso" for its tempo. This means "at a walking pace, gracefully."

Tempo is an Italian word that means 'time' or 'movement'. In music, tempo is simply the speed of a song or piece of music. It tells musicians how fast or slow to play.

How Fast is That?

Musicians use special words, mostly from Italian, to describe how fast a piece of music should be. They also use a tool called a metronome to measure tempo in BPM (beats per minute). This tells you exactly how many beats happen in one minute.

Here are some common tempo markings, from slowest to fastest:

• Larghissimo – Super, super slow (24 BPM and under)
• Grave – Slow and serious (25–45 BPM)
• Lento – Very slow (40–60 BPM)
• Largo – Slowly and broadly (45–50 BPM)
• Larghetto – A bit faster than Largo (60–69 BPM)
• Adagio – Slow and calm (66–76 BPM)
• Andante – At a walking pace (76–108 BPM)
• Moderato – At a medium speed (98–112 BPM)
• Allegro – Fast, quick, and bright (120–156 BPM)
• Vivace – Lively and fast (156–176 BPM)
• Presto – Very, very fast (168–200 BPM)
• Prestissimo – Extremely fast, even faster than Presto (200 BPM and over)

Changing the Speed

Sometimes, the speed of a song changes as you play. Here are words that tell you to change the tempo:

• Ritardando – Slow down little by little.
• Ritenuto – Slow down suddenly.
• Accelerando – Speed up gradually.

Other Tempo Words

Composers also use other Italian words to give more details about the tempo:

• A tempo – Go back to the original speed.
• L'istesso tempo or Lo stesso tempo – Keep the same speed.
• Tempo comodo – Play at a comfortable, easy speed.
• Tempo di... – Play at the speed of a certain dance or style. For example, Tempo di valse means "at the speed of a waltz."
• Assai – Means "very much." So, allegro assai means "very fast."
• Con – Means "with."
  • Con brio – With energy and spirit.
  • Con moto – With motion.
• Meno – Means "less." So, meno mosso means "less quickly."
• Molto – Means "much" or "very." So, molto allegro means "very quick."
• Non troppo – Means "not too much." So, allegro non troppo means "fast, but not too much."
• Più – Means "more." So, più allegro means "more quickly."
• Poco – Means "a little." So, Poco adagio means "a little slow."
• Poco a poco – Means "little by little."
• Senza – Means "without." So, senza tempo means "without a strict tempo."
• Subito – Means "suddenly."

Images for kids

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  An electronic metronome. This tool helps musicians keep a steady tempo.

See also

In Spanish: Tempo para niños