Musical Instructions Related to Speed of Playing Quiz

Answer:

Mathematical tempo markings became more common in the early 1800s after Johann Nepomuk Mälzel invented the metronome. A metronome is a device that makes a steady clicking sound to help musicians keep time and practice at different speeds. Beethoven was the first composer to use it, and in 1817 he added beats per minute (BPM) markings to all his symphonies. Early metronomes were not very accurate, but modern electronic ones make BPM markings extremely precise.

Not all pieces of music show tempo with numbers. In classical music, the speed of a piece is often described with one or more words instead. Most of these words are Italian, because many important composers of the 1600s were Italian, and that was when tempo markings first became common and standardized.

Before the metronome was invented, the only way to show a piece's tempo was by using words. After the metronome appeared, these words were still used, but they often also described the feeling or mood of the music. This made the line between tempo markings and mood markings less clear.

Here are the words that dictate the speed with which music should be played in order from the slowest to the fastest:

Larghissimo - Extremely slow, broad; the slowest possible tempo. (24 BPM and under)
Grave, and/or Adagissimo - slow and solemn (20-40 BPM)
Lento - slowly (40-60 BPM)
Largo - slowly and broadly (40-66 BPM)
Larghetto - somewhat broad (≈ 44-66 bpm)
[In addition to the larghetto being generally slightly faster than largo, there is a character difference, with larghetto often lighter than the very broad and stately largo.]
Adagio - slow and stately (literally, "at ease") (44-66 BPM)
Adagietto - rather slow, a bit faster than adagio, but slower than andante (46-80 BPM)
Andante - at a walking pace (73-77 BPM)
Andantino - slightly faster than andante in most modern usage (78-84 BPM)
Marcia moderato - moderately, in march style. (83-85 BPM)
Andante moderato - between andante and moderato (at a moderate walking speed) (80-108 bpm)
Moderato - moderately (108-120 BPM)
Allegretto - moderately fast (112-120 BPM)
Allegro moderato - almost but usually not as fast as allegro (116-120 bpm)
Allegro - fast, quickly and bright (120-156 BPM)
Molto allegro or - intensifying the lively speed of standard allegro with "molto" meaning "very." (typically 124-156 BPM)
Allegro vivace - occupies a similar or slightly overlapping range as molto allegro, blending allegro's brightness with vivace's extra liveliness. (124-156 BPM)
Vivace - lively and fast (156-176 BPM)
Vivacissimo and Allegrissimo - very fast, lively and bright (172-176 bpm)
Presto - extremely fast (168-200 BPM)
Prestissimo - extraordinarily fast; the fastest (200 BPM and over)

These were NOT musical instructions of how fast to play:

Piano (means softly in musical dynamics)
Rococo (is an 18th century ornamental and dramatic style of art and architecture)
Staccato (it refers not to a speed of playing but to a style of playing, playing with a short gap between each note)
Legato (is not a speed instruction, but a style of playing, meaning play smoothly)
Oloroso (is a type of sherry)
Marcia Imperator (is a Brazilian actress and TV personality)
"Moderato Cantabile" is a 1958 novel by Marguerite Duras
Allegro Grandi was an Italian cyclist who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics
Andante vivace is a contradictory combination of two core Italian tempo words with opposite meanings - andante meaning moderately slow and vivace meaning fast and lively.