The terminology of music covers various musical areas: including dynamics, tempo, musical notation, the nature of the performance, as well as ways of interpreting the work. The dominant language of musical terminology is Italian. An interesting fact it is worth noting that even Mozart wrote some of his operas in Italian.
Until the 18th century, there was no recent abundance in determining the pace of performance. In the past, the tempo was determined by the metro rhythm, since the duration of the sound (whole, half, quarter, etc.) was considered an absolute value.
The inaccuracy and subjectivity of ideas about duration sometimes put musicians in a difficult position. It is likely that the first musical terms-concepts appeared for more exact definition dynamics and pace. In the 19th century, the specialization of musicians increased dramatically, and composers gradually ceased to be performers, as they had been in the past. The latter gave rise to an increase in the number of terms used in musical notation.
At the beginning of the same century, Mälzel designed a metronome, which made it possible to accurately determine the tempo when performing musical works. L. Beethoven, for example, used the metronome more willingly than verbal terminology. In their recent compositions Beethoven introduces German speech in order to more accurately define the spirit and emotions of the music.
In the 20th century in most countries native language began to prevail over Italian when recording music on notes. International musical terminology was greatly influenced by C. Debussy, whose exquisite terms captivated many composers. A. Scriabin, for example, inspired by C. Debussy, began to apply French, inventing new no less original terms. And yet, despite the most progressive trends of the last centuries, it was the Italian language that retained its international significance in musical literacy.
I have listed the most commonly used Italian terms necessary in the work of a musician, because sometimes tuba players do not even know what a particular term means or implies in the pieces they are learning.
TERMS OF DESIGNATION OF THE TEMP AND ITS CHANGES
Slow pace:
- lento (lento) - slowly, weakly, quietly
- lento assai (lento assai) - very slowly
- lento di molto (lento di molto) - very slowly
- largo (largo) - wide, slow
- largo assai (largo assai) - very wide
- largo di molto (largo di molto) - very wide
- largo un poco (largo un poco) - slightly wider
- adagio (adagio) - slowly
- grave (grave) - significantly, solemnly, majestically, heavily
Moderate pace:
- andante (andante) - step, graceful movement
- andante cantabile (andante cantabile) - slowly and melodiously
- andante maestoso (andante maestoso) - slowly and majestically
- andante pastorale (andante pastorale) - slowly pastoral
- andante vivace (andante vivace) - lively and ardently
- andantino (andantino) - rather than andante
- moderato (moderate) - moderately, restrainedly
- allegretto (allegretto) - lively
Fast paced:
- allegro (allegro) - soon
- vivo, vivace (vivo, vivache) - quickly, lively
Very fast paced:
- Presto, prestissimo (presto, prestissimo) - fast, extremely fast
Other terms characterizing musical emotionality:
- abbandono (abbandono) - dejectedly, depressed
- abbandonamente (abbandonamente) - dejectedly, depressed
- accarezzevole (accarezzevole) - affectionately
- affettuoso (affettuoso) - heartily
- agitato (agitato) - excited, excited
- amabile (amabile) - nice
- alla (alla) - in the genus, in the spirit
- alla marcia (alla marchya) - in the spirit of the march
- alla polacca (alla polyakka) - in the spirit of Polish
- amoroso (amoroso) - lovingly
- animato (animato) - enthusiastically, animatedly
- appassionato (appassionato) - passionately
- ardente (ardente) - with heat
- brillante (brillante) - brilliant
- buffo (buffo) - comically
- burlesco (burlesco) - comically
- cantabile (cantabile) - melodious
- capriccioso (capriccioso) - capricious
- con amore (con amore) - with love
- con anima (con anima) - with enthusiasm, with animation
- con bravura (con bravura) - brilliant
- con brio (con brio) - with heat
- con calore (con calore) - with heat
- con dolcezza (con dolcezza) - gently, softly
- con dolore (con dolore) - with sadness
- con espressione (con expression) - with an expression
- con forza (con forza) - with force
- con fuoco (con fuoco) - with fire
- con grazia (con grace) - with grace
- con malinconia (con malinconia) - melancholy
- con moto (con motto) - mobile
- con passione (con passione) - with passion
- con spirito (con spirito) - with enthusiasm
- con tenerezza (con tenerezza) - with tenderness
- con vigore (kon vigore) - courageously
- deciso (deciso) - resolutely
- dolce (dolce) - gently
- dolcissimo (dolcissimo) - very gently
- dolente (dolente) - sad, plaintive
- doloroso (doloroso) - sad, sad
- elegante (elegant) - elegant, beautiful
- elegaco (elejyako) - plaintively, sadly
- energico (energetic) - vigorously
- eroico (eroiko) - heroically
- espressivo (espressive) - expressively
- flebile (phlebile) - plaintively
- feroce (feroche) - wildly
- festivo (festivo) - festive
- fiero (fiero) - wildly
- fresco (fresco) - fresh
- funebre (funebre) - funeral
- furioso (furioso) - furiously
- giocoso (dzhyokozo) - playfully, playfully
- gioioso (gioyozo) joyfully, cheerfully
- grandioso (grandioso) - magnificent, magnificent
- grazioso (grazioso) - gracefully
- guerriero (guerrero) - militantly
- imperioso (imperioso) - imperatively
- impetuoso (impetuoso) - rapidly, violently
- innocente (innocente) - innocent, simple
- lagrimoso (lagrimoso) - deplorable
- languido (languido) - exhausted, powerless
- lamentabile (lamentabile) - plaintively
- leggiero (dejero) - easy
- leggierissimo (leggierissimo) very easy
- lugubre (lugubre) - gloomy
- lusingando (lusingando) - flattering
- maestoso (maestoso) - solemnly, majestically
- malinconico (malinconico) - melancholy
- marcato (marcato) - emphasizing
- marciale (marciale) - marchingly
- marziale (martsiale) militantly
- mesto (mesto) - sad
- misterioso (mysterioso) - mysteriously
- parlando (parlando) - recitative
- pastorale (pastoral) - pastoral
- patetico (patetico) - passionately
- pesante (pezante) - heavy, ponderous
- piangendo (piangendo) - deplorable
- pomposo (pomposo) - great, with a shine
- quieto (kieto) - calmly
- recitando (recitando) - telling
- religioso (religioso) - reverently
- rigoroso (rigoroso) - strictly, exactly
- risoluto (risoluto) - resolutely
- rustico (rustic) - rustic style
- scherzando (scherzando) - playfully
- scherzoso (scherzoso) - playfully
- semplice (sample) - simple
- sensibile (sensibile) - sensitive
- serioso (seriously) - seriously
- soave (soave) - friendly
- soavemente (soavemente) - friendly
- sonore (sonore) - sonorous
- spianato (drunk) - with simplicity
- spirituoso (spirituoso) - spiritually
- strepitoso (strepitozo) - noisy, stormy
- teneramente (teneramente) - gently
- tranquillo (tranquillo) - calmly
- vigoroso (vigoroso) - strong, cheerful
Some terms frequently found in musical notation:
- a capella (a cappella) - in chorus, without instrumental accompaniment
- a due (or a 2) (a due) - play the same part together
- ad libitum (ad libitum) - optional: an indication that allows the performer to freely vary the tempo or phrasing, as well as skip or play part of the passage (or other piece of musical text); abbreviated ad. lib.
- arco (arco) - literally "bow": an indication of coll arco for performers on string instruments- play with a bow, not pizzicato
- attacca (attack) - transition to the next part without interruption
- a tempo (a tempo) - return to the original tempo after changing it.
- basso continuo (basso continuo) (also general bass, digital bass) - "continuous, general bass": a tradition of baroque music, according to which the lower voice in the ensemble was performed by a melodic instrument of the appropriate range (viola da gamba, cello, bassoon) , while another instrument (keyboard or lute) duplicated this line along with chords, which were indicated in the notes by a conditional digital notation, implying an element of improvisation
- basso ostinato (basso ostinato) - literally "permanent bass": a short musical phrase in the bass, repeated throughout the entire composition or any section of it, with free variation of the upper voices; in early music this technique is especially typical of the chaconne and passacaglia.
- ben (ben) - good
- blue note (English) - in jazz, the performance of the third or seventh step in major with a slight decrease (the term is associated with the blues genre)
- coda (code) conclusion
- col (col) - with
- come (come) - like
- con (kon) - with
- da capo (da capo) - "from the beginning"; an indication instructing to repeat from the beginning a fragment or a whole part of the work; D.C. for short.
- dal segno (dal segno) - “starting from the sign”; an indication instructing to repeat a fragment from the sign; D.S. for short.
- diminuendo (diminuendo) - dynamic indication, similar to decrescendo
- divisi (divisions) - division (homogeneous instruments or voices perform different parts)
- e, ed (e, ed) - and
- fine (fine) - end (traditional designation in the score)
- forte (forte) - designation of expressiveness: loud; abbreviated
- ma (ma) - but
- mezza voce (mezza voche) - in an undertone
- mezzo forte (mezzo forte) - not very loud
- molto (molto) - very much; tempo symbol: molto adagio - tempo symbol: very slow
- non (non) - not
- non troppo (non troppo) - not too much; allegro ma non troppo - tempo notation: not too fast
- obligato (obbligato) - 1) in music of the 17th and 18th centuries. the term refers to those parts of instruments in a work that cannot be omitted and must be played without fail; 2) fully written accompaniment in a piece of music for voice or solo instrument and clavier
- opus (opus) (lat. opus, “work”; abbreviated - op.): the designation has been used by composers since the Baroque era and usually refers to a serial number this essay in a (most often chronological) list of works by a given author
- ostinato (ostinato) - repeated repetition of a melodic or rhythmic figure, harmonic turnover, a separate sound (especially often in bass voices)
- poi (poi) - then
- perpetuum mobile (perpetuum mobile) (lat. "perpetual motion"): a piece built on continuous fast rhythmic movement from beginning to end
- pianissimo (pianissimo) - very quiet; abbreviated: pp
- piano (piano) - quiet; abbreviated: p
- piu (piu) - more; piu allegro - designation of tempo: faster
- pizzicato (pizzicato) - plucking: a way to play stringed instruments by plucking the strings with your fingers
- portamento (portamento) - a sliding transition from one sound to another, used in singing and playing the strings
- portato (portato) - a way of sound production, between legato and staccato
- quasi (kuazi) - as if
- rallentando (rallentando) - tempo designation: gradually slowing down
- recitative (abbreviated recit.) (recitative) - recitative
- ripieno (ripieno) - in instrumental music baroque designation of the game of the whole orchestra; same as tutti
- ritardando (ritardando) - tempo designation: gradually slowing down
- ritenuto (ritenuto) - designation of pace: gradually reducing the pace, but on a shorter segment than ritardando
- rubato (rubato) - flexible interpretation of the tempo-rhythmic side of the work, deviations from a uniform tempo in order to achieve greater expressiveness
- scherzando (schertsando) - playfully
- segue (segue) - the same as the previous one
- senza (senza) - without
- simile (simile) - the same as the previous one
- solo (salt) - one
- soli (salts) - plural from solo, i.e. more than one soloist
- sostenuto (sostenuto) - designation of expressiveness: restrained; sometimes the notation can also refer to the tempo
- sotto voce (sotto voche) - designation of expressiveness: "in an undertone", muffled
- staccato (staccato) - abruptly: the manner of sound production, in which each sound is, as it were, separated by a pause from the other; the opposite way of sound production is legato (legato), connected. Staccato is indicated by a dot above the note.
- stile rappresentativo (rappresentative style) - the operatic style of the early 17th century, the basic principle of which is that musical beginning should be subject to the expression of dramatic ideas or reflect the content of the text
- sforzando (sforzando) - a sudden emphasis on a sound or chord; s.f. for short
- segue (segue) - continue as before: an indication that, firstly, replaces the indication attacca (i.e., instructs to perform the next part without interruption), and secondly, instructs to continue execution in the same manner as before (in this case, the designation sempre is more often used)
- semibreve (semibreve) - whole note
- tace (tache) - be silent
- tacet (tachet) - silent
- tutti (tutti) - everything (for example, the whole orchestra)
- tenuto (tenuto) - sustained: the designation prescribes to maintain the full duration of the note; sometimes available in mind lung duration exceeded
- unisono (unisono) - in unison
- voce (voche) - voice
- voci (vochi) - voices
to be continued...
Which composers use to create their works. in talented musical composition there is nothing accidental: tonality, structure, embellishments, manner of performance - everything must be subordinated to one creative task. What role does musical tempo play in all of this? And what types of paces are there?
Musical tempo as a means of musical expression
Tempo in Italian is denoted by the word "tempo". The Italians, in turn, borrowed this word from Latin, where "tempus" means "time". In music, tempo refers to the speed at which a piece of music is played.
Tempo, along with dynamics, is one of the most effective means of conveying the emotional coloring of a work. If a person who writes or performs musical works ignores this fact, then the result of his creative process runs the risk of being faded and less expressive. The right tempo combined with the right dynamics ensures effective communication between the composer or performer and his listener. Comparison of music with human speech is quite correct, because the emotional color of speech is also determined by its tempo and dynamics. It is these characteristics that help to get a response from the interlocutor and involve him in the dialogue.
Tempo has been at the heart of music since ancient times. Previously, musicians with their playing mainly accompanied ritual dances and processions, a little later - rural festivities or balls of noble gentlemen. The tapping of the dancer's feet, the speed with which the dance couples moved, became a reference point by which the musicians checked their pace of playing.
How is tempo indicated in musical notation?
Over time, music has become one of the most beloved entertainment for people of various classes and living standards. When the first notes began to appear, fixing the melody of a particular song or work, the problem of designating the tempo in the scores became relevant. Indeed, how can a symbolic designation convey information about the tempo of a work?
Composers know that tempo is also a certain pulsation of the melody. Such a pulsation is purely individual for any musical creation. When a person wants to measure the pulsation of his heart, he counts the number of beats per minute. In music, they used the same technique, but with the use of musical divisions - quarter, eighth, sixteenth notes, etc. It is the number of notes of a certain duration that fit in a minute that determines the meter (tempo) of the work. Almost every score on the left has a similar designation: a note of a certain duration, an “equal” sign and a numerical designation of the number of these notes that fit per minute. A special device - a metronome - helps to keep the indicated tempo and not deviate from it.
Slow pace
Sometimes, instead of a clear metric designation, the composer can also use verbal designations of tempo. Like many musical terms, it is customary to indicate tempos in Italian. This tradition took root because during the formation of musical notation, most of the works were composed and recorded in scores by Italians. But modern Russian-speaking independent authors often use Russian designations translated from Italian.
The slowest musical tempo is “grave”, translated from Italian it sounds like “heavy” or “solemnly”. This tempo can also be referred to as "significantly" or "very slowly". The metric designation of the tempo ranges from 40 to 48 beats according to the Malter metronome.
Next on the list of slow tempos is "largo", which in Russian means "wide". Largo can be played at 44 to 52 beats per minute.
This is followed by largamente (46-54 beats/min), adagio (48-56 beats/min), lento (50-58 beats/min), lentamente (52-60 beats/min), largetto (54- 63 bpm), etc.
moderate musical tempos
The list of moderate paces opens with the designation “andante”, which literally means “to go”. The moderate musical tempo "andante" is the tempo of a "calm step", it fluctuates in the region of 58-72 beats per minute. There are also several varieties of it: andante maestoso - means "solemn step"; andante mosso - means "brisk step"; andante non troppo - means "slow step"; andante con motto - means "with a comfortable or relaxed step"; andantino - tempo in the region of 72-88 beats per minute.
Next to "andante" is also the tempo "comodo" and "comodamente", which means "slowly". The metric designation for this tempo ranges from 63 to 80 beats per minute.
Moderate tempos also include moderato assai (76-92 bpm), moderato (80-96 bpm) and con moto (84-100 bpm).
fast paced
"Allegretto moderato" is a designation that opens the list of fast tempos.
"Allegretto moderato" is not a very fast musical tempo: the term is translated as "moderately lively" and is metrically indicated from 88 to 104 beats per minute. This is followed by "allegretto" (92-108 bpm), "allegretto mosso" (96-112 bpm).
This also includes the term "animato", which means "lively", and "animato assai" - respectively, "very lively". IN numerical values these rates range from 100-116 and 104-120 beats per minute.
"Allegro moderato" is a moderately fast musical tempo, that is, the tempo is in the range from 108 to 126 beats per minute. "Tempo di marcia" invites the performer to play the work at the pace of the march - in the range from 112 to 126 beats per minute.
"Allegro non troppo" means not very fast tempo (116-132 beats/min), "allegro tranquillo" tempo has the same parameters. "Allegro" (means "fun") - 120-144 beats per minute. "Allegro molto" is much faster than the previous rates: metrically it is indicated as 138-160 beats per minute.
Most commonly used tempos
With the advent of computer programs for writing music, as well as electronic metronomes, numerical designations of tempos have firmly taken their positions in scores, because verbal designations are rather vague and always require clarification. And yet, from verbal designations, largo is still widely used (translated as “very slowly”, “widely”); andante (slow musical tempo); adagio (translated as "slowly"); moderato (meaning "moderately" or "restraintly"); allegro (i.e. "fast"); allegretto (meaning "quite lively"); vivache (i.e. "quickly" or "quickly") and presto (meaning "very quickly").
Additional designations
Often the composer does not insist on the performance of his work in a strictly specified tempo. In such cases, the musical tempo can be denoted by an adjective that characterizes the general mood that should prevail during the performance of a piece or song. For example, "leggiero" means "easy" and "pesante" means "heavy" or "heavy". Lightness of sound or weight can be equally successfully achieved with completely different metrics of music. The author may also invite the performer to play his part “cantabile”, i.e. “melodious”, or “dolce” - i.e. "gently". In the middle of the score, or in any other part of it, remarks like "ritenuto", which means "holding back", or "accelerando", i.e. "accelerating" may also appear. Many such remarks make it possible to take into account important nuances in execution piece of music.
The effect of the tempo of music on the human body
In one of the Italian universities, an interesting experiment was set up on the subject of how the musical tempo affects the state of the psyche or other indicators in the human body. Participants in the experiment were professional musicians and ordinary music lovers. The results were amazing: it turns out that fast, lively music mobilizes all body systems (pulse quickens, breathing speeds up, blood pressure rises, etc.), while slow, unhurried music contributes to complete relaxation, relaxation nervous system and normalization of blood pressure.
With this lesson, we will begin a series of lessons dedicated to various nuances in music.
What makes music truly unique, unforgettable? How to get away from the facelessness of a piece of music, to make it bright, interesting to listen to? By what means musical expressiveness used by composers and performers to achieve this effect? We will try to answer all these questions.
I hope that everyone knows or guesses that composing music is not only writing a harmonious series ... Music is also communication, communication between the composer and the performer, the performer with the audience. Music is a peculiar, extraordinary speech of the composer and performer, with the help of which they reveal to the listeners all the innermost things that are hidden in their souls. It is with the help of musical speech that they establish contact with the public, win its attention, evoke emotional response from her side.
As in speech, in music the two primary means of conveying emotion are tempo (speed) and dynamics (loudness). These are the two main tools that are used to turn well-measured notes on a letter into a brilliant piece of music that will not leave anyone indifferent.
In this lesson, we will talk about tempe .
Pace in Latin it means “time”, and when you hear someone talking about the tempo of a piece of music, it means that the person means the speed at which it should be performed.
The meaning of tempo will become clearer if we recall the fact that initially music was used as musical accompaniment dance. And it was the movement of the dancers' feet that set the pace of the music, and the musicians followed the dancers.
Ever since the invention of musical notation, composers have tried to find some way to accurately reproduce the tempo at which recorded works should be played. This was supposed to greatly simplify reading the notes of an unfamiliar piece of music. Over time, they noticed that each work has an internal pulsation. And this pulsation is different for each work. Like the heart of each person, it beats differently, at different speeds.
So, if we need to determine the pulse, we count the number of heart beats per minute. So in music - to record the speed of the pulsation, they began to record the number per minute.
To help you understand what a meter is and how to determine it, I suggest you take a watch and stamp your foot every second. Do you hear? You tap one share, or one bit per second. Now, looking at your watch, tap your foot twice a second. There was another pulse. The frequency with which you stamp your foot is called pace ( or meter). For example, when you stamp your foot once per second, the tempo is 60 beats per minute, because there are 60 seconds in a minute, as we know. We stomp twice a second, and the pace is already 120 beats per minute.
In music notation, it looks something like this:
This designation tells us that a quarter note is taken as a unit of pulsation, and this pulsation goes with a frequency of 60 beats per minute.
Here, too, a quarter duration is taken as a unit of pulsation, but the pulsation speed is twice as fast - 120 beats per minute.
There are other examples when not a quarter, but an eighth or half duration, or some other one, is taken as a unit of pulsation ... Here are a few examples:
In this version, the song “It’s cold in the winter for a little Christmas tree” will sound twice faster than the first option, since the unit of a meter is taken as a duration twice as short - instead of a quarter, an eighth.
Such designations of tempo are most often found in modern sheet music. Composers of the past eras used mostly verbal description of the tempo. Even today, the same terms are used to describe the tempo and speed of performance as then. These are Italian words, because when they came into use, the bulk of music in Europe was composed by Italian composers.
The following are the most common notation for tempo in music. In brackets for convenience and a more complete idea of the tempo, the approximate number of beats per minute for this tempo is given, because many people have no idea how fast or how slow this or that tempo should sound.
- Grave - (grave) - the slowest pace (40 beats / min)
- Largo - (largo) - very slowly (44 beats / min)
- Lento - (lento) - slowly (52 beats / min)
- Adagio - (adagio) - slowly, calmly (58 beats / min)
- Andante - (andante) - slowly (66 beats / min)
- Andantino - (andantino) - leisurely (78 beats / min)
- Moderato - (moderato) - moderately (88 beats / min)
- Allegretto - (allegratto) - pretty fast (104 beats / min)
- Allegro - (allegro) - fast (132 bpm)
- Vivo - (vivo) - lively (160 beats / min)
- Presto - (presto) - very fast (184 beats / min)
- Prestissimo - (prestissimo) - extremely fast (208 beats / min)
However, tempo does not necessarily indicate how fast or slow the piece should be played. The tempo also sets the general mood of the piece: for example, music played very, very slowly, at the grave tempo, evokes the deepest melancholy, but the same music, if performed very, very quickly, at the prestissimo tempo, will seem incredibly joyful and bright to you. Sometimes, to clarify the character, composers use the following additions to the notation of tempo:
- leggiero - easy
- cantabile - melodious
- dolce - gently
- mezzo voce - half a voice
- sonore - sonorous (not to be confused with screaming)
- lugubre - gloomy
- pesante - heavy, weighty
- funebre - mourning, funeral
- festivo - festive (festival)
- quasi rithmico - emphasized (exaggerated) rhythmically
- misterioso - mysteriously
Such remarks are written not only at the beginning of the work, but may also appear inside it.
To confuse you a little more, let's say that in combination with tempo notation, auxiliary adverbs are sometimes used to clarify shades:
- molto - very,
- assai - very,
- con moto - with mobility, commodo - convenient,
- non troppo - not too much
- non tanto - not so much
- semper - all the time
- meno mosso - less mobile
- piu mosso - more mobile.
For example, if the tempo of a piece of music is poco allegro (poco allegro), then this means that the piece needs to be played “rather briskly”, and poco largo (poco largo) will mean “rather slowly”.
Sometimes individual musical phrases in a piece are played at a different tempo; this is done to give greater expressiveness to the musical work. Here are a few notations for changing tempo that you may encounter in music notation:
To slow down:
- ritenuto - holding back
- ritardando - being late
- allargando - expanding,
- rallentando - slowing down
To speed up:
- accelerando - accelerating,
- animando - inspiring,
- stringendo - accelerating,
- stretto - compressed, squeezing
To return the movement to its original pace, the following notation is used:
- a tempo - at a pace,
- tempo primo - initial tempo,
- tempo I - initial tempo,
- l'istesso tempo - the same tempo.
Tempo in music, apparently, is the most indefinite and ambiguous category responsible for temporal parameters.
What is pace?
Tempo is the speed of the musical process; speed of movement (change) of metric units. Tempo determines the absolute speed at which a piece of music is played. Notice the word absolute. In fact, pace is relative.
Unlike meter and , where there are clear instructions when and with what volume to take this or that note, such a mathematical approach fails at tempo.
It would seem that with the invention of the metronome, any ambiguity should come to naught. However, the picture has not changed for hundreds of years since the time of Beethoven. At first, composers tried to scrupulously write out the tempo according to the metronome, but later abandoned this idea. What other questions are related to pace? Wagner once said, for example, that the correct interpretation depends entirely on a well-chosen tempo. Is this statement correct? Based on my subjective experience, I can say that it is 90% correct. The remaining 10 are the correct understanding of the style of music and everything else.
I emphasize that this is just a point of view. However, I think that I am not alone in it, since some of the world's best musicians (such as Lindsdorf, A. Zimakov, Wagner:) are of the same opinion.
I will try to answer the question: why did many composers refuse to designate the metronome in their works?
There are many reasons, but the main one, apparently, is the progress of musicians.
Such a thing as unprofessionalism is quite common among performers of any profession.
Let's take, for example, a modern one (a situation from my biography).
For example, he wrote a score and brought it into some sequencer. Set the pace and you're done. The piece sounds the same as in the composer's head. But after that, the score got into the orchestra and half of the musicians cannot play their parts. This is where you have to sacrifice either tempo or notes.
Many of Beethoven's works were very difficult for his contemporaries and, apparently, he decided to give some freedom in choosing the tempo.
Modern musicians play Beethoven without difficulty, but as soon as it comes to Shostakovich or God forbid about Messiaen, then everything collapses and it turns out epic fail :)
What is the tempo here?
The main problem is that musicians like to slow down fast passages for no reason, or take a slow tempo, explaining it with some kind of expressiveness, but this does not change the essence - they simply cannot play it. The composer, the listener and the music suffer from this.
Very often, musicians misinterpret tempos, resulting in fast-paced pieces becoming ballads and vice versa.
This can be observed very often among classical guitarists (it is rather even a rule to distort the tempos) - it says Allegro is played by Moderato, it says Moderato starts to play Lento. There are thousands of such examples - just look at a few famous works and you can see the tempo gradation within 40 or even more metronome units. I repeat that this is typical for classical guitarists. Among pianists, I did not notice this. In general, it is difficult to imagine a pianist who, using his vision as an excuse, would start playing Chopin's fantasy in C# maj at a tempo of 140.
This is the first side of the problem of tempo, let's call it mechanical-performing.
Now consider the nature of tempo.
Tempo as a structure that regulates the rhythmic and metrical movement of music has been established quite recently. There are two types of pace:
- math (metronome tempo)
- sensual (affective)
Mathematical is typical for electronic music, metal, etc. music that is played strictly on click. In such music, no deviations from the tempo are allowed) with rare exceptions, you can find accelerando and ritenuto)
Sensual it is defined by style, agogics and . One measure can be at a tempo of 90, the second at a tempo of 120, and the third at a tempo of 60. Such an approach to rhythm is typical for Scriabin, Rachmaninov.
There is also a middle ground between these two concepts. Such phenomena as shuffle are built on a skillful combination of different approaches to tempo. Metronome designations cannot reflect real tempo, which is why many composers have abandoned them, and for the same reason most musicians refuse to play on click.
On the other hand, verbal designations allow you to convey the nature of the movement and the direction in which the musician (s) should think
Here is what Harlapin writes about this:
The verbal designation of the tempo indicates, not so much to the speed, but to the "quantity of movement" - the product of speed and mass (the value of the 2nd factor increases in romantic music, when not only quarters and half, but also other note values act as tempo units) . The nature of the tempo depends not only on the main pulse, but also on the intra-lobar pulsation (creating a kind of "tempo overtones"), the magnitude of the beat. Metro-rhythmic speed turns out to be just one of many tempo-creating factors, the importance of which is less, the more emotional the music.
The classic definition is that tempo in music is the speed of movement. But what is meant by this? The fact is that music has its own unit of measurement of time. These are not seconds, as in physics, and not hours and minutes, which we are used to in life.
Musical time most of all resembles the beating of a human heart, measured pulse beats. These beats measure the time. And just how fast or slow they are depends on the pace, that is, the overall speed of movement.
When we listen to music, we do not hear this pulsation, unless, of course, it is specifically indicated by percussion instruments. But every musician secretly, inside himself, necessarily feels these pulses, they help to play or sing rhythmically, without deviating from the main tempo.
Here's an example for you. Everyone knows the tune new year song"The Forest Raised a Christmas Tree". In this melody, the movement is mainly in eighth notes (sometimes there are others). At the same time, the pulse beats, it’s just that you can’t hear it, but we will specially sound it with the help of percussion instrument. Listen given example, and you will begin to feel the pulse in this song:
What are the tempos in music?
All tempos that exist in music can be divided into three main groups: slow, moderate (that is, medium) and fast. In musical notation, tempo is usually denoted by special terms, most of of which are words of Italian origin.
So slow tempos include Largo and Lento, as well as Adagio and Grave.
Moderate tempos include Andante and its derivative Andantino, as well as Moderato, Sostenuto and Allegretto.
Finally, let's list the fast paces, these are: the cheerful Allegro, the "live" Vivo and Vivace, as well as the fast Presto and the fastest Prestissimo.
How to set the exact tempo?
Is it possible to measure musical tempo in seconds? It turns out you can. For this, a special device is used - a metronome. The inventor of the mechanical metronome is the German physicist and musician Johann Mölzel. Nowadays, musicians in their daily rehearsals use both mechanical metronomes, and electronic analogues - in the form of a separate device or application on the phone.
What is the principle of the metronome? This device, after special settings (move the weight on the scale), beats the pulse at a certain speed (for example, 80 beats per minute or 120 beats per minute, etc.).
The clicks of a metronome are like the loud ticking of a clock. This or that beat frequency of these beats corresponds to one of the musical tempos. For example, for a fast Allegro tempo, the frequency will be about 120-132 beats per minute, and for a slow Adagio tempo, about 60 beats per minute.
These are the main points regarding the musical tempo, we wanted to convey to you. If you still have questions, please write them in the comments. See you again.
