Expressions for tempo:

What is tempo?:

Musicians use the word tempo to describe the speed of the piece. Tempo is measured in beats per minute (bpm) a beat is the equivelent of a crotchet or eighth note. For example if the piece of music has a bpm of 100 that means that their are 100 crotchet beats per minute. The bpm will be displayed above the piece as a metronome mark that will also indicate if the piece is played straight or if it is swung.

What are some expressions for tempo?:

Before the invention of the metronome, composers used various Italian, French and German phrases in order to describe the tempo of the piece. Here are some common ones.

Allegro: Quick or lively

Moderato: Moderatly

Andante: 'Walking pace"

Adagio: Slow

Langsam: (German) Slow

Schnell: (German) Fast

Grave: (French) Slowly and solemnly

Additionally other phrases are used to indicate a change in tempo.

Accelerando: Getting faster

Rallentando: (Rall.) Slowing down but for emphasis (e.g. at the end of the phrase)

Ritardando: (Rit.) Slowing down, but holding back (slower)

A tempo: Return to previous tempo

Example:

Here is a piece of music. The metronome mark is clearly highlighted indicating that the music should be played at 126 bpm. Which is roughly walking pace as indicated by the tempo mark 'Andante'.

Below is a video of a guitarist playing Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand. The song intially starts at 140 bpm but in bar 31 (about 50 seconds into the video) the song has a gradual ritardando down to 105 bpm. You can see that the metronome markings are written to show that the song is slowing down. However a better way of writing this would be by using the symbol for a ritardando and then the final metronome mark. This is because when reading the music live a musician won't be able to pinpoint the exact tempo the music is slowing down to. However, I think that this is a good example of metronome marks in music to show the desired tempo of the piece.

Why do we need tempo marks?:

The tempo of a piece of music is often used to indicate and emotion or atmosphere. For example a fast tempo indicates urgency and excitement. Another way to use tempo to indicate mood and atmosphere is by either playing regularly with a fixed rhythm/tempo or by playing 'freely' e.g. rubarto indicates to a player that they should play the music without a fixed rhythm. This can create an expressive and free flowing sound to the music. Changes in tempo and markings are written down so that musicians are aware of these changes in a piece