4

I'm learning a song with a tempo of 170, and midway through it, this happens: enter image description here

How do you adjust to a drastic change in tempo? Practice? But then will it throw off my rythm?

Improve this question
5
  • 4
    What score is this from? It's possible this is just an attempt to make a digital score (and its MIDI performance) create a believable ritardando, and what's really implied is just a slow down in the first two measures and a return to the original tempo in m. 61.
    – Richard
    Jun 24, 2020 at 1:39
  • @Richard, It's from Waltz No. 2. There are other versions of it, but this is the best one I could find.
    – The Nuckster
    Jun 24, 2020 at 2:51
  • I think there should be an average fermata followed by a long one instead of the tempo change.
    – SovereignSun
    Jun 24, 2020 at 5:45
  • 3
    @TheNuckster - Do you mean the Shostakovich Waltz No. 2, or maybe some more obscure one like a Schubert or Brahms Waltz No. 2? Regardless, I don't think those tempo markings would be in a professional publisher's edition of that waltz.
    – Dekkadeci
    Jun 24, 2020 at 8:31
  • Buy some sheet music printed on actual paper by a real music publisher. I think you'll find those tempo marks absent. But in case they are not, the way you change tempo is ... you just change it. It's meant to be a discontinuity in the meter.
    – phoog
    Jun 24, 2020 at 21:24

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2

Don't take the numbers as gospel. It's just a slow down before picking up the original tempo again. A fermata in the trade!

I doubt the rall. will be the same every time, and that's not the important part. If it's just you playing, then slow down, and pick up again on bar 61.

Improve this answer
5
  • 1
    I would strongly recommend the OP grab a couple other editions of whatever piece this is and see how they are marked. This example is absurdly weird.
    – Carl Witthoft
    Jun 24, 2020 at 12:57
  • 1
    @CarlWitthoft - yup! This seems like an 'up-to-date' computer generated version. They're only as good as the inputter - at best.
    – Tim
    Jun 24, 2020 at 13:07
  • Music is not about Numeric Figures :P
    – RishiNandha Vanchi
    Jun 26, 2020 at 12:55
  • @RishiNandha_M - that's nowhere near true. We use numbers to label just about everything musical. We even start songs 1,2,1,2,3,4...
    – Tim
    Jun 26, 2020 at 13:43
  • Oh didn't mean it that way. Math and Music have intertwinings far more than visible at a topview. What I mean't was something like we don't do something like Sheet Music : "play(120bpm,sonata in C);" and we play at 120bpm exactly with no reference from anywhere.
    – RishiNandha Vanchi
    Jun 26, 2020 at 15:50

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.