Andantino – quite faster than andante (but some cases it means a bit slower than andante) (80–108 BPM)
Moderato – moderately (98–112 BPM)
Allegretto – by the mid-19th century, moderately fast (102–110 BPM)
Allegro – fast, quickly and bright (120–156 BPM) (molto allegro is slightly faster than allegro, but always in its range; 124-156 BPM).
Vivace – lively and fast (156–176 BPM)
Vivacissimo – very fast and lively (172–176 BPM)
Allegrissimo – very fast (172–176 BPM)
Presto – very quickly (168–200 BPM)
Prestissimo – extremely fast, even faster than presto (200 BPM and over)
Terms for tempo change:
Ritardando – little by little slowing down
Ritenuto - slow down suddenly
Accelerando – gradually accelerating
Additional Terms
A piacere – literally "at pleasure"
A tempo – at the same speed from the beginning
L'istesso tempo or Lo stesso tempo – at the same speed
Tempo comodo – at a comfortable (normal) speed
Tempo di... – the speed of a ... (such as Tempo di valse (speed of a waltz, ≈60 bpm), Tempo di marcia (speed of a march, ≈120 bpm))
Tempo semplice – simple, regular speed, plainly
Common Qualifiers
alla – in the manner or style of, as in:
alla breve – in short style,
alla marcia – in the style of a march (e.g., Beethoven, op. 101)
all' ongarese – in Hungarian style
alla (danza) tedesca – in the style of the Ländler (c. 1800), and similar dances in rather quick triple meter (see Beethoven, op. 79, op. 130)
alla turca – in the Turkish style, that is, in imitation of Turkish military music (Janizary music), which became popular in Europe in the late 18th century (e.g., Mozart, K. 331, K. 384)
alla zingarese – in the style of Gypsy music
assai – very much, as in allegro assai, quite fast
ben – well, as in ben marcato (well marked or accented)
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