Musical Elements and Tempo

Every song you hear is made up of seven key musical elements that musicians use like ingredients in a recipe. These include pitch (how high or low sounds are), dynamics (how loud or quiet), tempo (how fast or slow), duration (how long notes last), texture (how thick or thin the music sounds), timbre (the quality of the sound), and silence (the pauses that give music breathing space).

Tempo is one of the most noticeable elements because it controls the speed and energy of music. When a song gradually speeds up, that's called accelerando - you've definitely heard this in build-ups to exciting choruses! Musicians use Italian terms to describe different tempos, from Largo (very slow) all the way up to Presto (extremely fast).

The note values tell musicians exactly how long to hold each sound. A semibreve gets 4 beats (like a whole pizza), whilst a crotchet gets just 1 beat (like a quarter slice), and quavers get half a beat each.

Quick Tip: Try clapping along to your favourite songs to feel the different tempos - you'll start recognising whether they're more Andante (walking pace) or Allegro (fast)!