Tempo

The speed of a piece of music, usually measured in BPM.

Tempo is the speed at which a piece of music moves — how fast or slow its underlying beat pulses. It is most often measured in beats per minute (BPM), and it is one of the most immediate emotional levers in music: faster tempos tend to feel urgent, energetic or danceable, while slower tempos feel relaxed, weighty or sombre. In production, tempo sets the grid everything aligns to; in DJing, matching tempo between tracks is the foundation of beatmatching; and in performance, holding a steady tempo (often with the help of a metronome or click track) is a core musicianship skill.

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