Tempo

:This article is about tempo in music. For tempo in chess, see Tempo (chess).

Measuring tempo

The tempo of a piece will typically be written at the start of a piece of music, and is usually indicated in beats per minute (BPM). This means that a particular note value (for example, a quarter note or crotchet) is specified as the beat, and the marking indicates that a certain number of these beats must be played per minute.

Related Topics:
Beats per minute - Note value - Crotchet - Beat

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Mathematical tempo markings of this kind became increasingly popular during the first half of the 19th century, after the metronome had been invented, although early metronomes were somewhat unreliable; Beethoven's metronome markings, in particular, are notoriously unreliable. MIDI files today also use the BPM system to denote tempo.

Related Topics:
19th century - Metronome - Beethoven - MIDI file

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Some 20th century composers (such as Bela Bartok and John Cage) would alternatively give the total execution time of a piece, from which the proper tempo can be roughly derived.

Related Topics:
Bela Bartok - John Cage

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