Tempo Indications

Hello and welcome back. I'm Joseph Hoffman. Today we're learning about tempo indications, which is why I have my trusty tempo indication machine here. A tempo indication is a musical term that appears... Sorry, something must be wrong with my tempo indication machine. I see, we're stuck in largo. Let's fix that. Phew, that's better. As I was saying, a tempo indication is a musical term often in Italian, which always appears at the top of your piece telling you how fast or slow to play. And can also tell you about the mood of the piece. Something must be wrong with my tempo indication machine again. Whoa, all the way set to prestissimo! No wonder! phew That's better. I think I'll relax for a moment at a nice comfortable andante. Since my machine seems to be a bit unstable today, let's learn more about tempo indications by listening to examples of music by some great composers. One of the trickiest jobs a composer has, is to take all the musical sounds in her or his head, and turn it into symbols on a piece of paper that another musician can pick up, and then recreate those sounds the composer originally had in mind. In this piece we're listening to now by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart wrote the word andante at the top of the score to let the performers know to play it at a peaceful relaxed tempo. Andante means slow, but not too slow. Andante feels relaxed, but it still has movement. Perhaps like a walk along the beach, taking your time, but still going somewhere. Let's practice saying it. Repeat after me: Andante. Good. Now, let's turn the dial on our tempo indication machine one notch slower to adagio. Adagio means slow. Even slower than andante. There's less movement, making it more contemplative and inward. If andante is a casual walk on the beach, then adagio might be more like sitting alone in a grassy field near a quiet forest and just thinking. What you're listening to now is a piece called "Adagio For Strings" by Samuel Barber. It's one of my favorite pieces. Let's practice saying adagio. Repeat after me: Adagio Good. Now, let's go all the way to the slowest setting on our tempo indication machine. Largo Largo means very slow and stately. Largo has great dignity, sometimes even a feeling of majesty, and is completely unhurried. Like this piece we're listening to, which is marked 'largo' in the score by the composer Dvorak. Let's practice saying it. Repeat after me please: Largo Now, let's review our three tempo indications on the slower side of our dial. Let's say them all one more time starting with the very slowest largo, and then working our way up to andante. Please, say them with me. Good. Now, let's keep going in the fast direction now. One notch faster than andante, lands us on moderato, or as the Italians would say, moderato. Moderato is right in the middle of our dial. It's considered a medium moderate speed. In Rachmaninoff's famous second piano concerto, Rachmaninoff chose moderato as the tempo indication for this first movement that you're listening to now. You can hear that it's not too slow and not too fast. As Goldilocks would say, it's just right. Let's practice saying this one too. Repeat after me, moderato. Great, now buckle your seat belts. It's time to start speeding things up. Next on the dial is allegretto, which means medium fast. To me, allegretto often feels like skipping or dancing. It's often happy and playful. It can also feel a little urgent, like perhaps the way you would walk to school if you're running late. Come to think of it, allegretto could be a useful word for your mom or dad. Instead of just saying hurry, come on, let's get in the car! All she has to say now is allegretto people, allegretto! This third movement of Beethoven's piano sonata Number 17 in D minor, which you're listening to now, is marked allegretto in the score. Can you find and point to the tempo indication in Beethoven's score. If you're pointing right here, you're correct. Let's practice saying it. Repeat after me: Allegretto. Next up on our tempo indication machine's dial is allegro. Allegro means fast and lively. Allegro is running and jumping, having a good time cruising down the highway with the windows rolled down. Right now we're listening to a piece by Mozart called aina kleine knocked music. Try saying that five times fast, which he marked allegro. Let's practice saying it repeat after me allegro Now we get to presto which means very fast. Composers use presto when they want the notes to really move lightning quick. In fact, in the piece we're listening to right now, "Summer" from the four seasons by Vivaldi. The fast notes are actually meant to represent thunder and lightning during a wild summer storm. Let's practice saying it. Repeat after me, presto. And at last we've made it to prestissimo, which pretty much means to play as fast as you can without playing it sloppy of course. You won't hear any sloppy playing in this faster than fast performance of "Flight of the Bumblebee". I think it's a perfect example of prostessimo. Let's practice saying it. Repeat after me: prestissimo. Now, let's say all of our tempo indications one last time from the fastest, all the way down to the slowest. Say them along with me. Prestissimo, presto ...