Tempo and meter markings

INITIAL TEMPO MARKINGS

q = 100 q . = 150

44 68 44
Moderately fast Very slow

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& ll ll ll ll
Larghissimo – very, very slow (24 BPM and under)
Grave – very slow (25–45 BPM)
Lento – slowly (45–50 BPM)
Largo – broadly (50–55 BPM)
Larghetto – rather broadly (55–60 BPM)
Adagio – slow and stately (literally, "at ease") (60–72 BPM)
Adagietto – slower than andante (72–80 BPM)
Andantino – slightly slower than andante (although in some cases it can be taken to mean slightly faster than
andante) (80–84 BPM)
Andante – at a walking pace (84–90 BPM)
Andante moderato – between andante and moderato (thus the name andante moderato) (90–96 BPM)
Marcia moderato – moderately, in the manner of a march[4][5] (83–85 BPM)
Moderato – moderately (96–108 BPM)
Allegro Moderato - moderately fast (108-112 BPM)
Allegretto – close to but not quite allegro (112–120 BPM)
Allegro – fast, quickly, and bright (120–144 BPM) (molto allegro is slightly faster than allegro, but always in
its range)
Vivace – lively and fast (132–144 BPM)
Vivacissimo – very fast and lively (144–160 BPM)
Allegrissimo (or Allegro Vivace) – very fast (145–167 BPM)
Presto – extremely fast (168–200 BPM)
Prestissimo – even faster than Presto (200 BPM and over)

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& l
IMMEDIATE TEMPO CHANGE MARKINGS

Much faster Slower q = 250

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& ll ll =l l
h = q (Double time) Double time feel q=h (Half time) Half time feel

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& ll ll ll ll
GRADUAL TEMPO CHANGE MARKINGS

To get faster:

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& l
accelerando
accel.

To get slower:

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& l l l l
decelerando rallentando ritardando ritenuto
decel. rall. ritard. riten.
rit.
simply means to get usually a slow, rolling usually a somewhat usually the fastest
slower deceleration, often in the faster slowing down slowing down
middle of a piece than rallentando, often
at the end of a piece

Any of these marks will usually be followed by a dotted line to indicate how long the acceleration or
deceleration occur. For example:

« U
˙»»» »
œ «ˆ« «
« . ««ˆ« «« ««
» «
˙
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& » l l ˆ« ˆ« _«««˙ l
ritard. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"fermata" "Grand Pause" Return to the

"hold" "railroad tracks" original tempo
"bird's eye" "GP"

OTHER TERMS AND MARKINGS a tempo

Hold indefinitely Pause indefinitely or

U " Tempo 1

‰ Jœ»»»
rubato
«« «
« «
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& l ˆ« ˆ« _««ˆ l
Can be used either to
mean "completely out of
tempo" or to mean "played
freely over an underlying
tempo."
METER CHANGE MARKINGS If nothing is written here,
the implication is that the
note values stay the same.

34 œ»» œ»»» ««ˆ« 44 œ»» œ»»» œ»»» œ»»»

& »
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ll » l
or you can do it this way: q=q
or this way: l'istesso

34 œ»» œ»»» ««ˆ« 44 œ»» œ»»» œ»»» œ»»»

& »
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ll » l

Practice conducting these meter changes: new = old often written old = new
q=e e=q
q=h h=q
q = q. q. = q

34 œ»» œ»»» «« 44 œ»» œ»»» œ»»» œ»»»

» «
ˆ
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& ll » l

Practice conducting these meter changes: new = old often written old = new
q. = q q = q.
q. = q. q. = q.

q. = h h = q.
q. = h. h. = q.
e=q q=e
e = q. q. = e
e=h h=e
68
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& ll l
Note: whether you use the new = old or the old = new approach, it's important that the "new" note value
represent the actual beat used for conducting. For example, when shifting to 6/8 time, the new value
should be a dotted quarter (or, if the tempo is slower, an eighth note).