Tempo word game

How it works

Tempo is the speed of the beat. Composers mark it with a word at the top of the page, most often in Italian. In the top box, tap each word to hear how fast it goes. In the game, a beat plays and your child picks the word that fits. A wrong answer gets a hint: faster or slower. Nothing is saved.

The three levels

The first level has three words that sit far apart: largo, andante, and presto. The second adds allegro. The third uses all six. Adagio and moderato are the hard ones, because each sits close to its neighbors. Go back to the top box and compare two words as often as you like.

About the speeds

A tempo word describes a mood as well as a speed, and metronomes from different makers print slightly different numbers for each word. The speeds here match the metronome for kids on this site. Each beat in the game falls near the middle of its word's range.

Away from the screen

Say a tempo word and have your child cross the room at that speed. Largo is a slow, heavy walk. Presto is as fast as tiptoes can go. There are more games in tempo words in music, and the tempo and dynamics word cards put the words on paper.