Largo. Vivace. Adagio. While these words might sound like dishes one could order at an Italian restaurant, they are actually very important pieces of information found in a musical score.
Tempo — an Italian word meaning "time" — tells us how fast or slow a piece of music should be performed. More importantly, it tells the performers the speed at which they should play a given piece of music. If a composer didn't include a tempo marking in his or her score, the resulting music could sound like chaos.
The Class Notes™ video "Fast or Slow Means Tempo" explores the concept of tempo, what it means, how it's used, and why it's such an integral element of a score — with some help from two bearded lumberjacks.
To view more Class Notes™ videos, go here.
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