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Musical symbols are marks and symbols in musical notation that indicate various aspects of how a piece of music is to be performed. There are symbols to communicate information about many musical elements, including pitch, duration, dynamics, or articulation of musical notes; tempo, metre, form (e.g., whether sections are repeated), and details about specific playing techniques (e.g., which ...
For example, a tempo of 60 beats per minute signifies one beat per second, while a tempo of 120 beats per minute is twice as rapid, signifying two beats every second. The note value of a beat will typically be that indicated by the denominator of the time signature. For instance, in 4 4 time, the beat will be a crotchet, or quarter note.
Most time signatures consist of two numerals, one stacked above the other: The lower numeral indicates the note value that the signature is counting. This number is always a power of 2 (unless the time signature is irrational), usually 2, 4 or 8, but less often 16 is also used, usually in Baroque music. 2 corresponds to the half note (minim), 4 to the quarter note (crotchet), 8 to the eighth ...
Metric modulation: 2 half notes = 3 half notes or Play with eighth note subdivision for tempo/metre comparison. Thus if the two half notes in 4 4 time at a tempo of quarter note = 84 are made equivalent with three half notes at a new tempo, that tempo will be:
Even works that do not require a strictly constant tempo, such as musical passages with rubato, sometimes provide BPM markings to indicate the general tempo. Another mark that denotes tempo is M.M. (or MM), for Maelzel's Metronome. The notation M.M. is usually followed by a note value and a number that indicates the tempo, as in M.M. = 60.
In time (i.e. the performer should return to the stable tempo, such as after an accelerando or ritardando); also may be found in combination with other terms such as a tempo giusto (in strict time) or a tempo di menuetto (at the speed of a minuet) ab (Ger.) off, organ stops or mutes abafando (Port.) muffled, muted abandon or avec (Fr.)
Often, movements are described by multiple tempo markings. In this case, the tempo markings should be separated by en dashes set off by spaces (consider using the {{spaced en dash}} template), and the first letter of each tempo marking should be capitalized. True movement titles are enclosed in quotation marks.
The larger the beat value of the meter, the slower the tempo. Therefore, meters with beat values of a minim/half note (e.g. 2 2, 3 2) should be performed with a slow tempo; those with quaver/eighth note beats (e.g. 3 8) are fast; while those with crotchet/quarter note beats (e.g. 2 4, 3 4, 4 4) are performed