Piano for Beginners 6th ED - 2016 UK

Keep the beat

A snippet of tempo directions doing what they do best

Common tempo directions Learn these and set yourself up for the future

In addition to some of the more flamboyant

Italian tempo directions, there are a select few

that you will come across time and time again.

Concentrate on these to begin with, and you

will be off to a good start. There are also

phrases that can link tempo instructions

together, for example molto means ‘very’, so

you may spot molto vivace which means very

lively. You may also come across moderato,

which as you may guess means ‘moderately’,

for example moderato vivace.

“There are phrases

that can link tempo

instructions together”

Top tip

Set the mood

As well as general directions,

there are plenty of Italian terms

that indicate both the mood

and the tempo of a musical

arrangement. Some good

examples are appassionato

(passionately), misterioso

(mysteriously) or

tenerezza (tenderly).

Accelerando

In our example, you should get faster

throughout bar 2 ; however, you’re likely to

see this instruction for several more bars

Back to normal

An accelerando or ritardando instruction will often

be accompanied by an ‘a tempo’ one. This means

to return the original tempo of the piece

Define the style

You can also gain a very good idea

of the composer’s intention for the

style or mood of the piece simply by

looking at the tempo directions

Fermata

There are symbols that

can dictate tempo.

Here the power is in

the player’s hands

with a fermata, so

these notes can be

extended for as long

as desired

Word Meaning

Adagio Leisurely

Allegro Fast and lively

Andante Moderate, walking pace

Grave The slowest pace

Lento Slow

Poco a poco Gradually

Presto Very fast

Sostenuto Sustained