Documentation · The clock
bpm n Tempo
Quarter notes per minute. A plain note is one UNIT, a sixteenth, so a unit lasts 15/bpm seconds.
- The range is 5 to 240. Fractions are allowed:
bpm 22.5. - A document that never says
bpmplays at 30. - A tempo holds until the next
bpmline. - A rule plays at the tempo in force where it is STATED, not where it was defined.
The same figure at 60 and at 180: two seconds, then two thirds of one.
c4 d4 e4 f4 g4 a4 b4 c5 c4 d4 e4 f4 g4 a4 b4 c5
No tempo stated: eight units at the default 30 take four seconds.
c4 d4 e4 f4 g4 a4 b4 c5
A fractional tempo, for when the piece you are copying says 22.5.
c4 e4 g4 c5
A ritardando written as steps: one phrase, slower each time.
g4 f4 e4 d4 c4 g4 f4 e4 d4 c4 g4 f4 e4 d4 c4
Defined at 200, stated at 60. It plays at 60.
c4 e4 g4 e4
Half the tempo, or twice the duration: both lines last one second.
c4 e4 g4 e4 c4 e4 g4 e4