Tempo Markings — BPM Guide
Italian tempo markings have been used in music for centuries to indicate how fast a piece should be played. Below is a complete guide to the standard markings and their BPM ranges.
| Marking | BPM Range | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Grave | 20-40 BPM | Very slow and solemn |
| Largo | 40-60 BPM | Slow and broad |
| Larghetto | 60-66 BPM | Rather slow and broad |
| Adagio | 60-80 BPM | Slow and expressive |
| Andante | 80-100 BPM | Walking pace |
| Moderato | 100-120 BPM | Moderate speed |
| Allegretto | 112-120 BPM | Moderately fast |
| Allegro | 120-156 BPM | Fast and lively |
| Vivace | 156-176 BPM | Lively and fast |
| Presto | 176-200 BPM | Very fast |
| Prestissimo | 200-250 BPM | Extremely fast |
Click any marking above for the full breakdown — meaning, history, famous pieces, and modern equivalents.
Use our tap tempo tool to find the BPM of any song and see which tempo marking it falls under, or browse our BPM reference for any specific tempo.
How tempo markings relate to modern BPM
Before metronomes and digital tools, musicians relied on Italian tempo markings to communicate how fast a piece should be played. These terms are subjective — one conductor's Allegro might differ from another's by 5-10 BPM.
Modern BPM provides an exact, quantified measurement. Most music genres are described in BPM rather than Italian terms. However, understanding tempo markings remains valuable for classical musicians, music students, and anyone who wants a deeper appreciation of tempo.
Many digital audio workstations (DAWs) default to 120 BPM, which falls at the boundary between Moderato and Allegro — a versatile tempo for many styles of music.
Additional tempo modifiers
Composers often add modifiers to tempo markings to fine-tune the speed:
- Molto — "very" (e.g., Molto Allegro = very fast)
- Poco — "a little" (e.g., Poco Adagio = a little slow)
- Assai — "enough" or "rather" (e.g., Allegro Assai = rather fast)
- Ma non troppo — "but not too much" (e.g., Allegro ma non troppo)
- Con moto — "with motion" (e.g., Andante con moto)
- Sostenuto — "sustained" (e.g., Adagio sostenuto)
- Cantabile — "song-like" (e.g., Andante cantabile)
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