1. From the metronomic indication found at the beginning of many compositions. Thus e.g., the mark M.M. 92 (Maelzel's Metronome 92) means that if the metronome (either Maelzel's or some other reliable make) is set with the sliding weight at the figure 92 there will be 92 clicks per minute, and they will serve to indicate to the player or singer the rate at which the beats (or pulses) should follow one another. This is undoubtedly the most accurate means of determining tempi in spite of slight inaccuracies in metronomes[25] and of the mistakes which composers themselves often make in giving metronomic indications.
2. Another means of determining the tempo of a composition is to play it at different tempi and then to choose the one that "feels right" for that particular piece of music. This is perhaps the best means of getting at the correct tempo but is open only to the musician of long experience, sure judgment, and sound scholarship.
3. A third method of finding tempi is through the interpretation of certain words used quite universally by composers to indicate the approximate rate of speed and the general mood of compositions. The difficulty with this method is that one can hardly find two composers who employ the same word to indicate the same tempo, so that no absolute rate of speed can be indicated, and in the last analysis the conductor or performer must fall back on the second method cited above—i.e., individual judgment.
[109.] In spite of the inexactness of use in the case of expressions relating to tempo, these expressions are nevertheless extremely useful in giving at least a hint of what was in the composer's mind as he conceived the music that we are trying to interpret. Since a number of the terms overlap in meaning, and since the meaning of no single term is absolute, these expressions relating to tempo are best studied in groups. Perhaps the most convenient grouping is as follows:
1. Grave (lit. weighty, serious), larghissimo, adagissimo, and lentissimo—indicating the very slowest tempo used in rendering music.
2. Largo,[26] adagio,[27] and lento—indicating quite a slow tempo.
3. Larghetto (i.e., a little largo) and adagietto (a little adagio)—a slow tempo, but not quite so slow as largo, etc.
4. Andante (going, or walking, as contrasted with running) and andantino—indicating a moderately slow tempo.
Andantino is now quite universally taken slightly faster than andante, in spite of the fact that if andante means "going," and if "ino" is the diminutive ending, then andantino means "going less," i.e., more slowly!
5. Moderato—a moderate tempo.