Music is a phenomenon that happens over time and its elements have, in addition to other characteristics, a duration, beginnings and endings, certain impacts on our ears, our body and our brain. To directly relate musical time and chronological time, what we call musical tempo was invented.
What is musical tempo?
We can define tempo as the speed at which a specific work is performed and, although it is an acceptable approximation, we would not be realizing the implications that this has for any piece of music. Currently, a simple and mathematical measure is used to designate or deduce tempo: it is the concept “beats per minute” (bpm) or also, very often, “beats per minute” (bpm), its English equivalent. This means that if a piece of music is played at 60 bpm, each quarter note will last exactly 1 second. If played at 120 bpm, each black musical figure will last half a second and, by extension, the rest of the musical figures will adopt the relative duration that corresponds to them. Musical figures, as we already mentioned, are relative values and depend on the tempo at which a work is being performed in each circumstance or performance.
The metronome
All this calculation may seem logical and even obvious, but the reality is that it was not always like this. The invention that made it possible for a piece of music to be played accurately at 80, 110 or whatever number of beats per minute is written in the score, decided by the performers or the musical direction, is called a metronome and did not exist, for example. For example, 400 years. He metronome The mechanical mechanism was an invention by Dietrich Nikolaus Winkel in 1812. Despite this, it was Johann Nepomuk Mälzel who adapted the first prototype and patented the new portable mechanism. The word metronome derives from the Greek: metron, which means measure, and nomos, to regulate. And that is precisely what it does. A regular beat is set and the device is responsible for reproducing it as a sound or visual mark, basically, as a reference for musical study or the interpretation of musical works that require it. Ludwig van Beethoven, starting in 1817, was the first known composer to add to the scores of his works these annotations referring to the keystroke at which his compositions should be played.
Before the metronome
But then, before the metronome, what could a composer or performers do to indicate the tempo or speed at which any piece of music should be played? Well, in fact, until the invention and widespread use of the metronome, musicians already showed their interest in the scores reflecting their compositional intentions as faithfully as possible when interpreting the works of their authorship. To do this, they used words to indicate, approximately, the speed and character that should be applied to the execution of each work. These indications were very varied, depending on the time, places and musical traditions in which they were produced, and, in general, we can say that they were increasingly numerous. These indications appeared in writing, consisted of adjectives and, as we have said, used to provide two types of information to the interpreters: speed and expression.
Terms and types of musical tempo
Let's look at some examples of musical terms that affect the speed of musical tempo:
Presto: very fast (168-200 bpm)Allegro: fast (120-168 bpm)Moderate: medium (108-120 bpm)Walking:(76-108 bpm)Adage: slow (66-76 bpm)Slow: very slow (40-76 bpm)Long: very slow (40 bpm or less) Indications of change of tempo or speed in a piece of music:
grating either Ritardando: when a progressive decrease in the interpretive speed of the work is required.Accelerating: when you want progressive acceleration. Now, some examples of musical terms that also affect the expressiveness of musical tempo:
Passionate: passionately.With motorcycle: moved.Sweet: sweetly, delicately.Painful: affected.Maestoso: majestically. With these words, or with the combination of speed and expression, a faithful description of the intentions of the composer or the director, if applicable, of each work is achieved. It provides information without which each piece of music could be interpreted in any way, and there would be a risk of altering the intentions, purpose or logic behind each composition. Allegro appasionato, for example, makes it quite clear how we should play a work thus described. Long, painful, equally, it indicates a precise way of interpreting music written on a staff. These indications were almost always written down in Italian, especially in the 17th century, and their use became widespread throughout the 18th century.
Tempo in modern music
Although these expressions and concepts are usually related to classical music, for various reasons, the fact is that the styles and genres of modern music have not been immune to these issues. Although, by definition, modern music is freer in its conception, writing and interpretation, there are important distinctive features for a piece to be performed with a certain fidelity to the intention of its author or to the specific genre in which it falls.
Musical time and perception
But, although these annotations are helpful for the understanding and interpretation of musical works, the fact is that they are only part of what we perceive as listeners when listening to a song or instrumental piece. The time signature used, the subdivisions that the use of one or the other implies, the articulations of the notes and the particular style and sound of each musician will also powerfully influence the auditory impression that we receive from a specific work, from a determined performance, of that moment in time. Some genres and popular music, especially due to their own idiosyncrasy and collective origin, often based on improvisation, resist being accurately noted with symbols, numbers or adjectives, beyond their own name. Samba or bossa nova, despite often being found with indications such as 4/4 and a specific tempo, cannot be interpreted faithfully to the style taking only that information into account.
Conclusions
In short, tempo and those notations contributed to the evolution and enrichment of musical language and musical theory, but it has also raised many controversies throughout history. From the point of view of the performer, this type of impositions or indications considerably reduce the freedom in the execution of musical pieces which, depending on the character of the musicians, the musical ideas of each moment or the musical style in question, can be problematic. These instructions may conflict with the expressiveness expected of a musician's musical performance in real time, such as the unique experience of listening to a piece of music live. Therefore, from a modern perspective, both when writing songs or composing music, all these indications and terms of tempo are usually taken more as a reference than as an absolute truth. #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_form { } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_column_with_background { padding: 10px; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_form_column:not(:first-child) { margin-left: 20px; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_paragraph { line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_segment_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_text_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_textarea_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_select_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_radio_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_checkbox_label, 3 .mailpoet_list_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_date_label { display: block; font-weight: normal; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_text, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_textarea, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_select, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_date_month, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_date_day, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_date_year, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_date { display :block; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_text, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_textarea { width: 200px; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_checkbox { } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_submit { } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_divider { } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_message { } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_form_loading { width: 30px; text-align: center; line-height: normal; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_form_loading > span { width: 5px; height: 5px; background-color: #5b5b5b; }#mailpoet_form_3{border: 1px solid #fcb900;border-radius: 40px;text-align: center;}#mailpoet_form_3 form.mailpoet_form {padding: 20px;}#mailpoet_form_3{width: 70%;}#mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_message {margin : 0; padding: 0 20px;}#mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_paragraph.last {margin-bottom: 0} @media (max-width: 500px) {#mailpoet_form_3 {background-image: none;}} @media (min-width: 500px) { #mailpoet_form_3 .last .mailpoet_paragraph:last-child {margin-bottom: 0}} @media (max-width: 500px) {#mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_form_column:last-child .mailpoet_paragraph:last-child {margin-bottom: 0}} Please leave this field emptyDo you write songs or would you like to?
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