Skip to main content ↑ ↓
Topic: tempo is all wrong (Read 4008 times) previous topic - next topic

tempo is all wrong

I've taken notes and all the markings directly from a song book, to put a song in noteworthy, everything looks correct
however when I chose to hear the song , it plays too fast.
How can I slow these songs down so they sound normal.

Re: tempo is all wrong

Reply #1 –
change the tempo

Re: tempo is all wrong

Reply #2 –
Open your song in NWC.

Click on the empty portion between the "Time Signature" and the first note on the TOP STAVE ONLY. (or anywhere before the first note on the top stave)

Click on Insert | Tempo .

Set the tempo to your choice of speed.

Click on the "Expression Placement" tab.

Choose where you want the tempo expression to appear.

Click "OK".

If you later want to change things, then select the little grey diamond next to the tempo on your score then press "CTRL" and "e" at the same time.  A dialog box will appear that will allow you to change your settings.

Note that the tempo can be changed anywhere in your score by following this same procedure.  There are other ways to change the tempo, and you'll learn about these as you learn the program.  For now, however, the above instructions should get you going.

Re: tempo is all wrong

Reply #3 –
Excellent explanation, Debo. That's one of the most comprehensive instructions I've seen! :-)

Re: tempo is all wrong

Reply #4 –
Thanks for the details, I saw that section, and even played with some of the settings, but nothing changed.
After reading your note I went back to play with more settings
in that same area and found the  manual settings for tempo
even setting it at half note wasn't slow enough, I had to change the manual settings to match what my ear said was the proper tempo of the song.
I don't have lots of music theory in my head, how the heck am I supposed to figure out what the tempo should be, by just looking at a song in a song book???
Does it have to do with the beats to a measure?
This song starts with the notation of 6/8,
I really appreciate your help on this, I've found noteworthy
to be a great tool to help me learn songs and stuff about music.

Re: tempo is all wrong

Reply #5 –
Very often, if a piece has a time signature of 6/8, the tempo base is a dotted quarter (so that 6/8 is an "even-beat, tripletized" signature; I don't really know the right terms in English), but sometimes the base note might be an eighth.

Unless a piece has an explicit indication of tempo, that is, an M.M. <note>=<bpm> indication (M.M. stands for Maelzel Metronome), you'll just have to use what you see fit.

If a piece says largo, make it as broad and slow as you wish; a tempo allegro can likewise be as light and quick as you want it to be - use your imagination!

Re: tempo is all wrong

Reply #6 –
You wrote:  "...I had to change the manual settings to match what my ear said was the proper tempo of the song..."

I reply:  Music is a combination of art and emotion put into an audio format.  The "score", regardless of the method, whether it be sheet music, digitized image, etc., is only a visual representation of this audio.  This visual representation that other to share, to a greater or lesser degree, the music that you hear within your head.

Indeed there are "rules" regarding various aspects of music.  However, musicians are the same as writers and other artists in that, ultimately, the creator (artist) MUST create that which pleases himself.  Hold in mind that commercialized "art" sometimes demands that the "artist" forgo and/or change some of his "art" if he wishes to sell his work to others.

One must do today those things that seem to be appropriate.  If tomorrow one finds that he must change those things that he did yesterday, then so be it.

You are well on your way when your "ear" tell you what is right.  Indeed, you are a budding artist.

Congratulations!

Re: tempo is all wrong

Reply #7 –
Correction:

This visual representation enables others to share, to a greater or lesser degree, the music that you hear within your head.

Re: tempo is all wrong

Reply #8 –
Thanks for the details, I've been doing some reading
and speaking to some musician friends, they tell me pretty much the same, thanks also for the compliments

Re: tempo is all wrong

Reply #9 –
Nobody has stated the obvious: in 4/4 time, for example, a tempo of quarter-note = 120 means that there are 120 quarter notes per minute. Since there are 4 quarters to a measure, there are 30 measures per minute. As was pointed out, 6/8 is often viewed as 2 beats per measure, with a dotted quarter getting one beat. So dotted-quarter = 120 would be 120 dotted-quarters per minute, or 60 measures per minute. The larger the number, the faster the tempo. Also, the longer the note, the faster the tempo (half = 120 is twice as fast as quarter = 120). Note that in NoteWorthy, if you change the note value (i.e. from half to quarter) the number automatically adjusts, so the actual tempo doesn't change.