The
speed of music is known as the tempo.
But how does this work with long and short sounds?
Can you have a slow piece of music with lots of very
short sounds?
Wouldn't that then sound fast?
Tempo
is really the speed of the beat.
Composers
set the speed they want their music to be performed
by using Italian terms like allegro (fast) or adagio
(slow).
They can also give metronome markings that give the
number of beats per minute.
Beats per minute (bpm) is important to DJs - it's
how they match the speed of one track as they mix
it into another.
A
metronome is used to click the tempo at different
speeds by moving a weight up or down the pendulum
The first beat of each group is louder.
We call this an accent.
Notes
that are next to each other go up or down by step.
Try c-d, d-e, e-f, etc. Listen to get used to what steps
sound like.
Notes that are NOT next to each other are called leaps.
Try c-e, c-f, c-g, etc. Listen to get used to what leaps
sound like.
