how do you tell the tempo in sheet music?

[xdanxx]

Ok so I understand that the time signature in standard notation tells us how many beats are in a bar, and what kind of beat that number is; however, what I don't understand is how do you know the tempo to play that song?

[paganjack]

it's either notated in the top with a number, or a word (more commonly) like Allegro, Andante, etc. Those are more like ranges though, most tempi aren't specifically notated. There's almost always some room for interpretation.

[paulygonemad]

How To Read Sheet Music Tempo | Learn How To Read Sheet Music

[JeffBTZ]

Most sheet music will have a BPM count above or the below the staff. Sometimes it just has a tempo indicator like largo, allegro, presto, etc. Marches are a standard 120, so a lot of times they don't even say. (Although I don't expect that you'd be playing many marches.)

If it doesn't say at all, then I guess it's up for interpretation.

[bassybill]

Very often, you'll see what's called a metronome mark:

♩=118

This would indicate a tempo of 118 quarter notes in a minute.

♪=300

300 eighth notes in a minute (for a time signature like 12/8).


At one time, "bpm" (lower case) stood for beats per minute and "BPM" (capitals) meant bars per minute. Nowadays I do see BPM used for beats per minute, though.

[kb9wyz]

Originally Posted by bassybill

At one time, "bpm" (lower case) stood for beats per minute and "BPM" (capitals) meant bars per minute. Nowadays I do see BPM used for beats per minute, though.

I just got shivers thinking about trying to play 12/8 @ 300 bars per minute.

[millsbass5]

If it's legit sheet music from a company that prints sheet music,it should have,for example: 120=BPM(Beats per minute). At least that's what I've seen,in my experience.

[Papa Dangerous]

Yeah.. not much else to add here. I seen a link posting to a site, but I did not click it. So it may contain info I am going to say.. For those prints that have words instead of numbers, here is a general reference to their BPM.
Online Metronome | ResoundSpot

[millsbass5]

Damn,I'm rusty,the poster above is right. IT'S bpm,NOT BPM.

[SeaBassTheFish]

Originally Posted by bassybill

At one time, "bpm" (lower case) stood for beats per minute and "BPM" (capitals) meant bars per minute. Nowadays I do see BPM used for beats per minute, though.

Never in my life have I ever encountered this. But I did a little searching on the information superhighway and learned that ballroom dancers apparently use BPM to mean "bars per minute". Learn something new everyday!
So if you're playing music for ballroom dancers, there is a chance that you might see this, although it seems unlikely that it would be printed on the music that way since dancers know that musicians think BPM means "beats per minute".

In any case, BPM, capitalized or not, will almost always mean "beats per minute". Also, in classical music you sometimes see "M.M.", which means the same thing.

[xdanxx]

thanks for the clarification guys.