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Tempo
Tempo refers
to the rate of speed of the beat. The commonly used terms
to denote tempo are Italian. In large compositions such as
concertos and symphonies, individual sections (called movements)
are often titled by the tempos marking given in the score by the
composer. If you attend an orchestra concert you can observe
this in the written program.
The most frequently
used terms encountered in music literature are listed here, from
slowest to fastest.
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The metronome (made
popular by Johannes N. Maelzel in the early 1800s) is a device
that can be adjusted to produce the desired number of beats
per minute. For example, a composer can specify that
the quarter note should be played at 84 per minute by showing
M.M. = 84 in the score. Obviously, the higher the number,
the faster the tempo; conversely, the lower the number, the
slower the tempo.
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