metronomic value. (You will sometimes encounter the marking

bpm

,

“beats per minute.”)

Figure 1.15

Metronome Marking and Pulse Marking

2. Around the 17th Century (roughly!), Italian terms came to be used to

indicate tempo. These terms were descriptive and therefore rather
loosely interpreted as to exact tempo. These terms indicate a narrow
“range” of metronomic speeds. For example, the term

Andante

means

“going” or “a walking tempo.” This usually equates to roughly 76 beats
per minute, but may be interpreted at a slightly faster or slightly
slower pace.

3. In an attempt to refine these terms, to make them more precise,

diminutives were added:

Andantino

indicates a slightly faster pace than

Andante

. Other modifiers came into common practice as well. For

example,

Andante con moto

(“going, with motion”) is self-explanatory.

Beginning in the 19th Century, composers often used equivalent tempo
and performance descriptions in their native languages, or mixed
Italianate terms and vernacular terms within the same piece.

4. It is important to understand that the use of these terms exceeded

mere indications of relative speed. Often, they also carry the
connotation of style or performance practice. For example,

Allegro con

brio

(“lively, with fire or brilliance”) implies a stylistic

manner

of

performance, not merely a rate at which the pulse progresses through
time.

Chapter 19 "Appendix A: Common Musical Terms"

lists common

terms and their commonly accepted meanings along with some
equivalents in other languages.

Meter and Time Signatures

Meter

6

, expressed in music as a

time signature

, determines:

1. Which durational value is assigned to represent the fundamental

background pulse;

2. How these pulses are grouped together in discrete segments;
3. How these pulses naturally subdivide into lesser durational values,

and;

4. The relative strength of pulses (perceived accents) within segments or

groupings of pulses.Concerning accentuation of pulse, you will

6. Meter is the “ratio” of how

many of what type of pulse
values are grouped together.
Simple Meter divides the pulse
into two equal portions;
Compound Meter divides the
pulse into three equal portions.

Chapter 1 The Elements of Rhythm: Sound, Symbol, and Time

1.2 Pulse, Tempo, and Meter

21