Metronome marking

The tempo of a piece can be given in two ways: with a word, such as “Allegro”, or with a number. The number is the metronome marking. It consists of a note value and a number, for example “quarter note = 120”. What is meant is 120 quarter-note beats per minute, as a metronome shows them.

With a note value, not just a number

A number alone is not enough. 120 quarter notes per minute is something different from 120 eighth notes per minute. That is why a note value is always given with it. In time signatures with a division in threes such as 6/8 it is often the dotted quarter note, because it forms the leading beat. The metronome marking applies from its place until a new marking or a tempo word such as “a tempo” replaces it.

Tempo word and number

Italian tempo words describe tempo and character roughly and have no fixed metronome value. On the page Rhythm there are therefore only guide values: for Largo about 40 to 60, for Allegro 120 to 156 beats per minute. A metronome marking leaves the player less room, but it too is only a guide value, not a strict rule. Many editors add it afterwards in older editions.

An example from the sheet music archive

The march below shows both: the words “Tempo di Marcia” and the number quarter note = 140. Take a metronome, set 140 and count along, and you get an impression of how fast that is meant.

• Marsch der Holzsoldaten Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Album for the Young · piano, 1 page

  “Tempo di Marcia” is written above the first bar, followed by the metronome marking quarter note = 140. It names the note value to which the number refers and the number of beats per minute. The piece is in 2/4 time.