Know Thy Tempo

Different songs can have different tempos. The "tempo" to a song is the speed of the beat, i.e. it's usually how fast you'd tap your foot along with the song.

When learning a song there are two things about tempo that you need to keep in mind:

1) You need to know the tempo of the song.

If you're looking at the official sheet music or tablature of a song, the tempo should be clearly indicated, often with a number, occasionally with only an italian word like moderato, adagio, etc.

Here is an assorted list of songs and their respective tempos:

160 - Johnny B Goode by Chuck Berry
130 - Thunderstruck by AC/DC
116 - Last Kiss by Pearl Jam
110 - More Than a Feeling by Boston
94 -  Collide by Howie Day
88 - Wonderwall by Oasis
72 - Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen

As you get further down the list, your foot taps more slowly with each song (because the tempo is slower).

Listed here are the Italian names for tempo and the number of beats per minute each represents. I never use these names while teaching guitar, bass, or ukelele, so I had to actually look them up.

Tempo name and number (bpm)
Largo: 40-60
Larghetto: 60-66
Adagio: 66-76
Andante: 76-108
Moderato: 108-120
Allegro: 120-168
Presto: 168-200
Prestissimo: 200-208


2) You need to know if you are playing at that tempo.

This may seem obvious. If you're playing a song, you should be playing it at its proper tempo. Of course! And yet, so many students don't actually know whether they're playing the song quickly enough. Or, worse yet, they think they are playing the correct speed, and they aren't.

Enter the metronome.

Using a metronome, you can check if you're playing the correct tempo by setting the metronome to the speed of the song, and then playing along with it. If you can keep up with the beat of the metronome, then you're good!

Sometimes it is difficult to play along to a metronome, for any number of reasons. The song may be too fast for you, or you may have trouble following it. It may take time and practice to play exactly along with the metronome, but don't give up too easily. Every student that I've had use the metronome has gotten better with practice.

Know thy tempo

To play any song properly, you need to play it properly: the right notes, the right rhythm, and the right tempo. With time and practice you'll find learning, playing, and knowing the correct tempo will become second nature!