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You’ll have seen it on many an orchestral score, concert programme or CD inlay card. Many of classical music’s greatest symphonies, for example, begin with an opening movement marked Allegro<\/em>. Let’s take a closer look at the meaning of allegro<\/em> in music.<\/p> Allegro<\/em> is Italian for \u2018lively\u2019 or \u2018cheerful\u2019 and it\u2019s a term used on musical scores to indicate that the piece should be played at a relatively fast pace and in a bright and merry manner. It\u2019s a similar term to vivace<\/em>, which also means \u2018lively\u2019. <\/p> Different musical tempos are measured in beats per minute (BPM). And allegro<\/em> is typically marked on a metronome as having between 120-168 BPM. This is slightly faster than allegretto<\/em> (moderately fast), which itself is a little faster than moderato<\/em><\/a><\/strong> (moderate or medium).<\/p> A piece\u2019s tempo<\/a><\/strong> shouldn\u2019t be confused with its time signature<\/a><\/strong>. The latter indicates how many beats are included in a bar (or measure). Tempo, for its part, tells musicians how fast or slow those beats should be. <\/p> From the first movement of Mozart\u2019<\/a><\/strong>s Sonata in C Major to the fourth movement of Pescetti\u2019s Sonata No 8 in C, there are plenty of examples of classical pieces played with an allegro tempo.<\/p>What does allegro<\/em> actually mean?<\/strong><\/h2>
How fast is allegro<\/em>?<\/strong><\/h2>
Examples of allegro<\/strong> and its meaning in music<\/strong><\/h2>