Song Book Tempos

I've a song book that says the tempo of the songs are things like "Moderate", "Moderately Fast", "Brightly", "Medium Boogie-Woogie", "Slow Blues" etc.

Seems like they're trying to convey the tempo well as the feel of the song. I'm trying to figure out what to set my metronome to, and interpret what that stuff means.

Anyone know/point me to some info on this?

Thanks,
Buoy

I surfed the net a bit to find some kind of list and this is the best I could get. Hope this help.

* Prestissimo - as fast as possible (200 - 208 bpm)
* Presto - fast (168 - 200 bpm)
* Vivace - lively and fast (~140 bpm)
* Allegro - cheerful and quickly (120 - 168 bpm)
* Moderato - moderately (90 - 115 bpm)
* Andante - walking (76 - 108 bpm)
* Adagio - slowly (66 - 76 bpm)
* Larghetto (60 - 66 bpm)
* Largo - suspended (40 - 60 bpm)

Cool, thanks for looking that up. That list seems more formal than medium boogie-woogie etc. I'll listen to the CD of those songs and add to the list.

Thanks,
Buoy

Hehe I remember in the Tom Lehrer songbook for the song 'Smut' the tempo/feel is described as 'Pornissimo'

Also, you can always count out the beats per minute. Count how many beats there are in 60 seconds of the song...this will give you the bpm to set your metronome too. :cool: