Tempo Marks
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The Drum Room <tempo marks> |
A tempo mark is used to indicate the speed that a song is to be played. Here are the most common markings;
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Slow tempos |
Moderate to fast tempos |
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Grave -- Slowly, Sadly |
Moderato -- At a moderate speed |
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Largo -- Slowly, Broadly |
Allegro -- Quickly |
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Lento -- Very Slowly, Very Sadly |
Allegretto -- Not as quickly as Allegro |
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Adagio -- Slowly |
Presto -- Fast |
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Andante -- At a leisurely pace |
Vivace -- Very fast |
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Andantino -- Slightly faster than Andante |
The terms that indicate tempo changes are;
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Accelerando -- (abb. accel.) -- To gradually speed up the tempo |
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A tempo -- To return back to original speed after a tempo change |
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Ritardando -- (abb. rit.) -- To gradually slow the tempo down |
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Ad Libitum -- (abb. ad lib) -- At the pleasure of the performer |
Dynamic Marks indicate the loudness or the softness of the music. The most common marks are;
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p - Piano -- Soft |
Extra Terms |
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pp - Pianissimo -- Very soft |
Da Capo (D.C.) -- From the beginning |
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mp - Mezzo Piano -- Medium soft |
Dal Segno (D.S.) -- From the sign |
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f - Forte -- loud |
Coda -- A closing section added at the end of a piece |
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ff - Fortissimo -- Very loud |
Fine -- The end |
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mf - Mezzo forte -- Medium loud |
Poco a poco -- Little by little |
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sfz - Sforzando -- A short, strong accent |
Staccato -- Short, Detached |
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Tutti -- All, Everybody, Ensemble |