Tempo markings

Before metronomes, tempo was a word, not a number. The Italian terms below are still printed at the top of scores — here is the BPM range this site assigns to each, and what the word is really asking for.

Marking	BPM (this site)	Beat length	What it means
Grave	20–39	3000–1538 ms	Slow and solemn — a funeral-march weight.
Largo	40–65	1500–923 ms	Broad and stately, "at length".
Adagio	66–75	909–800 ms	"At ease" — slow, lyrical, unhurried.
Andante	76–107	789–561 ms	A walking pace — the most human tempo of all.
Moderato	108–119	556–504 ms	Moderately — neither slow nor fast.
Allegro	120–155	500–387 ms	Bright, joyful and quick — the default "fast".
Vivace	156–175	385–343 ms	Lively and fast, a step beyond Allegro.
Presto	176–300	341–200 ms	Very fast — Presto, and beyond 200 often called Prestissimo.

An honest caveat: published scales disagree. One book's Adagio is 66–76, another's is 55–65; the boundaries above follow one commonly used modern scale and are the same ones the MetronomeHQ metronome displays live as you change tempo. Treat any single boundary as ± a few BPM — the words describe a character first and a speed second.

The words, one by one

Grave (20–39 BPM)

"Grave" as in gravity and gravitas. The slowest common marking — the tempo of funeral marches and the opening of a requiem. At 30 BPM each beat is two full seconds apart, which is harder to play steadily than any fast tempo on this page.

Largo (40–65 BPM)

"Broadly." Largo asks for a wide, stately sound — think of the famous Largo from Dvořák's New World Symphony. Handel's "Largo" (actually marked Larghetto in the score) is the piece that made the word famous.

Adagio (66–75 BPM)

From ad agio, "at ease". Slow and lyrical, the tempo of the great slow movements — and, thanks to Albinoni's Adagio in G minor (as popularised in the 20th century), probably the most recognised marking of all.

Andante (76–107 BPM)

"Walking" — specifically, walking pace, which is why this range centres near the speed of a relaxed human stride, around 90–100 steps a minute. An enormous amount of music lives here; it is the tempo our bodies default to.

Moderato (108–119 BPM)

Simply "moderately" — the marking a composer uses to say: nothing extreme, keep it moving. It sits in the narrow band between walking and running, just short of Allegro.

Allegro (120–155 BPM)

"Joyful, bright." The default fast tempo of the classical repertoire, and the range of a great deal of pop music besides. At 120 BPM a beat is exactly 500 ms — the reference point on the BPM to milliseconds table.

Vivace (156–175 BPM)

"Lively, very alive" — Allegro with the brightness turned up. Beethoven reached for Vivace when Presto would have been too blunt. Drum and bass, at 160–180 BPM, spends its life straddling Vivace and Presto.

Presto (176 BPM and up)

"Fast!" — literally an instruction meaning quickly, at once. Flight-of-the-bumblebee territory. Beyond about 200 BPM many scales add Prestissimo; this site keeps the Presto label and lets the number speak.

Markings you may also meet

Marking	Where it sits	Note
Larghetto	50–55 in some scales	Slightly faster than Largo — "rather broad". In the scale this site uses, these speeds read as Largo.
Andantino	Between Andante and Moderato	Literally "little Andante"; confusingly used for both slightly slower and slightly faster than Andante depending on the era.
Allegretto	Just below Allegro	"A little joyful" — moderately fast, lighter than Allegro.
Prestissimo	Beyond Presto, roughly 200+	The fastest marking in common use; at 200 BPM a beat lasts 300 ms.

Using the markings today

If a score says Andante and nothing else, start around 90 BPM and let the character of the music argue from there. If you need the tempo of a recording instead, tap it and then see which marking the number falls under. And for the speeds of modern recorded music — where nobody writes Andante on a techno track — the genre BPM guide translates by style instead of by word.

MetronomeHQ Pro — $9/mo, coming soon. Saved setlists that switch tempo song by song, practice history and a speed trainer that follows your plan. Preview only — not on sale yet, no payment is taken.