Tempo

Tempo (Italian for 'time' from the Latin tempus) is the speed of a song or piece of music. It is measured in beats per minute, or BPM. For example, if a song has 4 beats per bar at 100 BPM, there will be 25 bars per minute.  

 Basic tempo markings 

From slowest to fastest:
 Larghissimo – extremely slow (24 BPM and under)
 Grave – slow and solem (25–41 BPM)
 Lento – very slow (38–57 BPM)
 Largo – slowly (47–60 BPM)
 Larghetto – quite broadly (52–64 BPM)
 Adagio – slow and stately (60–74 BPM)
 Adagietto – quite slow (60-68 BPM)
 Andante – at a walking pace (76–97 BPM)
 Moderato – moderately (98–112 BPM)
Allegretto – by the mid-19th century, moderately fast (102–110 BPM)
 Allegro – fast, quickly and bright (115–143 BPM) (molto allegro is slightly faster than allegro, but always in its range; 124-146 BPM).
 Vivace – lively and fast (136–160 BPM)
 Presto – very quickly (162–200 BPM)
 Presto dur -- Very faster dur (172- 198 BPM)
 Prestissimo – extremely fast, even faster than presto (201 BPM and over)

Terms for tempo change:
 Ritardando – little by little slowing down
 Ritenuto - slow down suddenly
 Accelerando – gradually accelerating
 Rallentando - slowing down

Additional terms
 A piacere – literally "at pleasure"Apel (1969), p. 42; for the literal translation see the online Italian-English dictionary at WordReference.com.
 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 marchApel (1969), p. 505. (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)Apel (1969), p. 834.
 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 fastApel (1969), p. 61.
 ben – well, as in ben marcato (well marked or accented)
 con – with,
 con bravura – with skillOnline Italian-English dictionary at WordReference.com.
 con brio – with vigor and spiritApel (1969), p. 112.
 con fuoco – with fire
 con moto – with motion
 fugato – in fugal style,
 in modo – in the style of, in the style of: in modo napolitano (in Neapolitan style), in modo di marcia funebre (in the style of a funeral march)
 meno – less, as in meno mosso (less quickly)Apel (1969), p. 520.
 appena – almost none,
 misterioso – mysterious
 molto – much, very, as in molto allegro (very quick) or molto adagio (very slow)Apel (1969), p. 537.
 non troppo – not too much, e.g. allegro non troppo (or allegro ma non troppo) means "fast, but not too much"
 non tanto – not so much
 più – more, as in più allegro (more quickly);
 poco – little, as in Poco adagio
 poco a poco – little by little, bit by bit
 quasi – like a ... (Più allegro quasi presto, "faster, like presto")
 senza – without, as in senza interruzione (without pause), senza tempo
 sostenuto – sustained, prolonged
 subito – suddenly

References

Category:Music theory