Tempo Terms Guide

Classical scores mark tempo with Italian words rather than numbers. “Andante” asks for a walking pace, around 76–108 BPM, but the word also carries a mood the number can’t. This guide pairs each term with a BPM range — then goes further into why the same BPM can feel faster or slower.

Hear the threshold between slow and fast

Numbers on a page don’t mean much until your ear attaches a feeling to them.

1. Open the Metronome
2. Set it to 60 BPM and start — the dock shows the matching name, Largo
3. Step up to 100 (Moderato), then 160 (Allegro)
4. Listen for the moment a steady pulse tips over into “fast.” That threshold is what the Italian terms are really naming.

The main tempo markings

Term	Meaning	Approximate BPM
Larghissimo	Extremely slow	Below 24
Largo	Very slow, broad	40–66
Larghetto	Rather slow	60–66
Grave	Slow and solemn	40–60
Adagio	Slow and stately	66–76
Adagietto	Slightly faster than Adagio	70–80
Andante	Walking pace	76–108
Andantino	Slightly faster than Andante	80–108
Moderato	Moderate speed	108–120
Allegretto	Moderately fast	112–120
Allegro	Fast and bright	120–168
Vivace	Lively and fast	156–176
Presto	Very fast	168–200
Prestissimo	Extremely fast	200+

Typical BPM by style

Pairing the words and numbers with real styles makes the speeds easier to feel.

Style	Typical BPM	Nearest term
Ballad / slow soul	60–80	Adagio–Andante
Pop / rock	100–130	Moderato–Allegro
Dance / EDM	120–145	Allegro
Jazz (medium swing)	120–180	Allegro–Vivace
Bebop	180–300	Presto and up
Drum and bass	160–180	Presto

The same BPM can feel faster or slower (test it)

A metronome number is beats per minute, but perceived speed isn’t set by the number alone. Playing with the tool makes this clear:

• Smaller subdivisions feel faster. Keep 100 BPM, but count quarter notes versus eighth notes (the “and” between beats) — the eighth-note feel is about twice as busy. A song’s “speed” depends as much on how fast the notes move as on the beat count.
• Genre resets your reference. The same 120 BPM feels fast inside a ballad and slow inside EDM. “Fast” and “slow” are relative to the style, not absolute.
• So in practice, don’t only match the term’s BPM — notice which subdivision you’re feeling, and your sense of tempo gets much steadier.

Tempo modifiers

These terms adjust or change the tempo during a piece:

• Accelerando (accel.) — gradually getting faster
• Ritardando (rit.) — gradually getting slower
• Rallentando (rall.) — slowing down, similar to ritardando
• A tempo — return to the original tempo
• Fermata (𝄐) — hold a note longer than its written value

A note on BPM ranges

Treat every range above as a ballpark. Conductors, editions, and eras disagree, and a Baroque Allegro can sit slower than a modern Andante. The terms describe a character as much as a speed, so use the numbers to get close, then trust the feel. (Published ranges vary by source; see Tempo.)

Put it into practice

Look up the tempo marking on a piece you’re learning, set the metronome to the low end of its range, and play. Then push to the high end and play again. Somewhere in that span is the tempo where the music makes the most sense to you — and that, not the textbook number, is the one to keep. (See how to use the metronome for a practice method built around this.)

→ Dial in a tempo on the Metronome