The speed or pace at which a piece of music is performed. Some common tempo indications are: very slow (largo), slow (adagio), immediately getting slower (ritenuto/rit.), gradually getting slower (rallentando/rall., ritardando/ritard.), moderate (moderato), at an easy walking pace (andante), moderately fast (allegretto), gradually getting faster (accelerando/accel.) fast (allegro, vivace), very fast (presto). Can be indicated as a metronome marking indicating beats per minute (e.g. =144, or 144BPM.)