Tempo refers to the speed at which a piece of music is played.  Tempo is measured in beats per minute (BPM).  If you have ever wondered what it means when you see that a quarter note = 60, it means that the BPM equals 60.  This meaning that a quarter note should pulse 60 times per minute, thus a good way to check yourself if you don't have a metronome is to simply check your watch.  But before the invention of the metronome, words were used to describe at what a pace a piece should be played.  This became widely used in the 17th century.  Due to the fact that the more famous composers of the time were Italian, the Italian tempo markings became more or less a standard.  This is not definite as any word can be used to describe the tempo of music, but a musician must understand the more frequent of these markings.

• Grave - very slowly and almost solemn

• Largo - slowly and broadly

• Adagio - slowly

• Lento - "slow" but usually only moderately so

• Andante - at a walking pace

• Moderato - at a moderate tempo, neither fast nor slow

• Allegretto - "a little allegro", understood to be not quite as fast as allegro

• Allegro - quickly

• Presto - fast

• Vivace - very fast, livley and brisk

• Prestissimo - very, very fast