Steve PMHMusic can evoke a number of emotions that range from joy to amusement, hope, eroticism, sadness, and even stress and anxiety.
This is why we choose a special playlist for the gym to help us feel pumped up and another for those romantic candle-lit dinners.
The most influential factor that affects how the music feels is related to its tempo. So what does allegro mean in music?
Allegro refers to the fast and lively tempo, which makes the music bright and uplifting. Keep on reading to learn more about allegro, how it’s used in music, and how it makes us feel.
What Does Allegro Mean in Music?
Allegro is the Italian word for lively or cheerful and is used in music to indicate a musical piece that is joyful and uplifting. It’s not as fast as presto and is a little faster than allegretto.
These terms indicate the speed or tempo of several movements of the music piece. The instructions for playing the music usually set the tempo or speed.
Manipulating the tempo or speed is a common way of creating covers for several songs and music pieces. In addition, it can be a way to play a song in a different genre.
The speed of allegro is usually between 120 and 156 BPM. Other subgenres of allegro include molto allegro, which is slightly faster but is still within the range between 124 and 156 BPM.
This means that a music piece played in allegro will include a little bit more than 2 beats per second.
Allegro also refers to the mood and expression of music. Both Allegro and Presto indicate a speedy execution of the music piece, as presto means faster.
However, allegro suggests that the performance is joyful, cheerful, and lively. Presto, on the other hand, refers to the speed of the performance without indicating that it’s joyful music.
Allegro is probably the most common tempo marking used in music. Allegro moderato is another common tempo marking, which has a speed between 112 and 124 BPM. So, it’s slightly slower than allegro.
Allegretto also refers to a moderately fast tempo marking that is still slower than allegro.
Allegro is usually referred to as the heart rate tempo, so it’s a favorite among musical composers.
The average human heartbeats rate is between 60 and 100, but during workouts and other physically strenuous activities, the rate can increase to 120 and even 130 heartbeats per minute.
Most allegro performances are played at the same tempo, as they range between 120 and 130 BPM. This is why these musical pieces usually evoke positive emotions and significantly impact the performers and the listeners.
How to Indicate that This Musical Piece is Played in Allegro?
Allegro is a base tempo indication, which sets the speed for the entire movement or performance. The word allegro is written above the staff to indicate the speed at which the performers will play the music.
Since tempo isn’t necessarily fixed, the composer can make a few adjustments by adding a new tempo.
For example, in the middle of the performance or movement, the composer would use a double bar to indicate the change in tempo and add the new indication.
In some cases, the musician will indicate a gradual change in the tempo by writing the indication under the staff. When keyboard instruments play the notes, any adjustments in the tempo indication will be written in the middle of the grand staff.
Accelerando refers to speeding up the tempo, while ritardando refers to slowing down the tempo. Some music pieces like Monti’s Csárdás are entirely made of accelerando passages. In the case of accelerando, the tempo is slightly increased until the next tempo mark.
Affrettando is another tempo marking that indicates a faster speed, but it introduces a feeling of anxiety and discomfort, which is different from allegro, which suggests joyfulness and cheerfulness.
What is Tempo in Music?
Tempo is the Italian word for time and refers to the speed or pace of a music piece. In classical music, the tempo was indicated with an instruction set at the start of the piece. After that, it was measured in beats per minute or BPM.
In modern music, the metronome mark is used to set the tempo in classical compositions. In other genres like pop or EDM, the tempo will be stated in BPM.
Tempo is combined with meter and articulation to create the texture of the music. A musician or singer should hold the tempo steadily throughout the performance, although it’s changeable and can be manipulated from one performance to another.
The tempo can be played with slight or drastic variances based on the musicians’ interpretations, the conductor’s indication, or can be controlled by one of the instrumentalists, especially the drummer.
During the 19th century, the metronome was invented by Johann Nepomuk Maelzel, and Beethoven published the indication of all the symphonies he composed during the 1810s.
During the 20th century, a new method was used to determine the tempo of the music piece. The composer would specify the total playing time for a piece, and the performers would derive the tempo and play the music accordingly.
Tempo can also be measured in measures per minute or MPM. This refers to the number of measures of the piece performed in a single minute, and this method is used to measure tempo in ballroom dance music.
Tempo is usually expressed in Italian in classical music because most of the composers who composed classical music during the classical period were Italian or spoke the language.
Before the Baroque and Classical periods, composers and musicians of the Renaissance period understood that music flows according to a tempo that is defined by the tactus of the human heartbeat.
In Mensural Notation, musicians used the meter signature to indicate the number of beats included in each bar, where each beat corresponds to a note value.
Using the modern tempo expressions became popular during the Baroque period. Musicians were expected to understand and interpret these markings and used their experience to manipulate the tempo to execute and deliver the performance.
In some cases, composers would omit or discard tempo markings. In this case, the performers would rely on their own experience and personal interpretation to play the music at the correct tempo.
For example, the first movement of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 by Bach contains no indication of tempo or speed. In this case, the performers would depend on their level of experience to be able to determine the speed at which the notes are played.
Because the tempo of the music will greatly affect the nature and emotional impact of the music performance, some composers would name their music compositions based on the tempo. For example, the Introduction and Allegro for Strings by Elgar.
In some cases, the tempo isn’t mentioned or indicated, but it’s implied based on the nature of the musical form or the music genre itself.
For example, speedcore has the fastest tempo among different music genres. The music rarely has a BPM lower than 300.
Some tracks have a tempo of more than 1000 BMP and are known as Extratone, while others exceed 1 million BMP and are known as Hypertone.
Other genres like jazz are extremely versatile. They can be played in very slow tempos as ballads or fast in burning jazz.
Fast tempos aren’t restricted to metal music. Some of the old jazz performances were played in very fast tempos. For example, Cherokee is a jazz song that was performed by Ray Noble at 368 BPM.
In some cases, a description is added to facilitate the job of the performers when they’re deciding on the right tempo for the performance. For example, fast rock and medium jazz refer to the tempo that the musicians should follow while playing a specific piece.
Why Is Tempo Important in Music?
Tempo is one of the main parameters that define the music texture, in addition to harmony, melody, rhythm, dynamics, and lyrics.
It’s a precise measure that sets the differences between various music genres and can affect the emotions that the music evokes.
In modern music genres, DJs use the tempo for beatmatching, which refers to accelerating or slowing down the tempo to match the tempo of a previous or subsequent track.
Thanks to beatmatching, a DJ can seamlessly blend two tracks together for a smooth transition or to create a layered effect. In this case, the DJ would pay attention to the underlying tempo of the recording rather than the value of the BMP.
In classical music compositions, different tempos are used by conductors to set the difference between a performance by an ensemble and another.
In other musical contexts, musicians, singers, music directors, and bandleaders will choose the tempo based on the setting.
For example, the drummer or bandleader can choose the tempo in modern music. They will count one or two bars in tempo and set the speed of the whole piece.
A singer or a soloist begins the performance with a solo introduction that sets the tempo for the rest of the group throughout the performance. In some cases, during recording sessions, the record producer will be the one setting the tempo for a song.
What is BPM?
Beats per minute or BPM is one of the units used to measure tempo and set the speed of a musical performance.
By assigning a numerical value to the beats played per minute, the performers are able to set the speed and pace for the performance. The beat corresponds to the time signature in the notation.
The beat corresponds to a quarter note when the time signature has four on the bottom, like 2/4 or 5/4.
In a 2/4 time signature, every two beats will take you through a whole measure. In a 5/4 time signature, every five beats will take you through a whole measure.
The beat corresponds to an eighth note when the time signature has eight on the bottom, like 3/8 or 6/8. In this case, 8 of the eighth notes make up a whole measure.
So in a time signature of 3/8, 3 beats will take you through the whole measure. In a time signature of 6/8, 6 beats will take you through the whole signature.
Paying attention to the BPM sets not only the mood for the music but also affects its purpose. For example, when the music is played for a film score, the wrong or imprecise tempo can affect how the music aligns with the scene, which might cause confusion. ‘
The BPM number will also change the genre or nature of the musical composition. Some pieces can be performed in different tempos based on the genre.
Which Music Pieces have the Fastest Tempo?
There are several classical and modern music pieces and songs that are known for having impressively fast tempos.
- Waltz in D-flat major by Chopin is one of the fastest classical performances. The piece has a tempo marking of molto vivace or very lively. It usually takes between 1 and a half to 2 and a half minutes to be played, although some pianists attempt to play it faster.
- Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani is a hip-hop song with a tempo that reaches about 110 BPM.
- Flight of the Bumblebee by Rimsky Korsakov was written to entertain the audience between acts of The Tale of Tsar Saltan opera but is now widely known for its fast tempo and has been featured in various movies. The original tempo of the piece is set to be 94 BPM, but it can also be played at 188 BPM.
- Thousand is a techno song by Moby and is listed by the Guinness World Records as the world’s fastest tempo for a released single, with a tempo that reaches about 1015 BPM.
- Get This Party Started by P!nk has a tempo of 129 BPM. It belongs to the dance-pop genre and is played in a single chord.
- Concerto for 2 Cellos in G Minor by Vivaldi is made up of three movements, allegro, largo, and allegro. The average tempo of this piece is 81 BPM.
