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Music Theory

Tempo and Agogics Exercises

Three exercises to practice tempo and agogics (changes of tempo): knowing what each Italian term means, putting speeds in order, and recognizing tempo changes by ear. Answers are checked right away, and you can generate printable worksheets with solutions at the end.

What does this term mean?

A term appears and you choose what it indicates. There are three levels: speed terms only (Grave, Largo, Andante, Allegro…), agogics only (accelerando, ritenuto, a tempo, rubato, fermata…) or everything mixed. For speed terms, some questions also ask for the BPM range.

Put the speeds in order

Several terms appear out of order, and you tap them from slowest to fastest or the other way around, depending on the question. You can undo the last one if you place it by mistake.

The terms in each question are never next to each other on the scale: there is always at least one other term between any two of them. This avoids pairing terms with very close speeds, whose usual ranges overlap.

Which tempo change do you hear?

You hear a change of tempo (accelerando, ritardando, ritenuto, a tempo, fermata or rubato) and you identify it by ear. You can replay the example as many times as you need. These are the same demonstrations used on the agogics page.

Printable worksheets

The same exercises on paper, for class: twelve terms to match with their meaning (speed and agogics terms) and six series of speeds to number. Everything on one side of A4, with a separate answer sheet.

Printable A4 worksheet on tempo and agogics
A4 sheet with both parts: matching terms and ordering speeds.

Download the worksheet (A4 PDF) Answers

You can print and photocopy it freely for the classroom.

Need more than one sheet? Generate more worksheets here, each with different terms and series, and print them straight from your browser.

How to review before you start

If you miss more than you expect, a quick review is on the two theory pages:

  • Musical tempo: the speed terms with their BPM range, and a button to hear each one.
  • Agogics: tempo changes, with demonstrations you can listen to (accelerando, ritardando, ritenuto, a tempo, fermata and rubato).

To internalize a particular speed, use the online metronome, which also has a practice mode for moving from one tempo to another over a set number of measures.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which tempo terms are in the exercises?
Eleven speed terms, from Grave to Prestissimo, and fifteen agogics terms: accelerando, stringendo, doppio movimento, ritardando, rallentando, ritenuto, allargando, morendo, a tempo, Tempo primo, più mosso, meno mosso, l'istesso tempo, rubato and fermata.
What is the order of the tempos from slowest to fastest?
Grave, Largo, Larghetto, Adagio, Andante, Moderato, Allegretto, Allegro, Vivace, Presto and Prestissimo. The BPM ranges are only a guide and vary with the period and the composer.
Why don't all the terms appear in the ordering exercise?
The terms are chosen so that none are neighbors on the scale. If Allegretto and Allegro appeared together, their usual ranges overlap and the order would be debatable. So there is always another term between any two terms of a question.
Can I print worksheets?
Yes. The worksheet generator on this page creates A4 sheets with two parts, matching each term with its meaning and ordering speeds, plus an answer sheet. Each sheet has different terms, and you can print as many as you like for class.