Meno Tempo

[Dirge]

I'm not quite sure what I'm being told to do by this instruction. Help.

[Anglogeezer]

I'm not quite sure what I'm being told to do by this instruction. Help.

It seems from this site NAXOS

Meno

Meno (Italian: less) is used in musical directions to qualify other words as in meno mosso, with less movement.

 

that MENO means less - so MENO TEMPO means LESS SPEED??

 

regards

Jake

[Dirge]

I'm not quite sure what I'm being told to do by this instruction. Help.

It seems from this site NAXOS

Meno

Meno (Italian: less) is used in musical directions to qualify other words as in meno mosso, with less movement.

 

that MENO means less - so MENO TEMPO means LESS SPEED??

 

regards

Jake

 

Hi Jake. I thought perhaps it was a direction to be 'looser' with the timing, you know, 'less time'. But if you take it as speed then it comes across as 'a bit slower'. Hence the puzzlement and the query.

[Samantha]

Looser would be "con rubato". I think meno tempo probably is intended to mean slower.

Samantha

[JimLucas]

Looser would be "con rubato". I think meno tempo probably is intended to mean slower.

No, no. If "meno tempo" means "less time", then that means you'd better hurry!

[Christian Husmann]

that MENO means less - so MENO TEMPO means LESS SPEED??

 

regards

Jake

 

Ish.

 

Meno means within the same given speed (allegro for example) that you continue with noticeable less speed. But not dropping down to something like andante...

I think important is as well that you play a bit in a different speed without adjusting it like in a ritardando. You play a bit slower and when it says back to full speed - well, than it´s the original speed again.

 

Christian

[Dirge]

that MENO means less - so MENO TEMPO means LESS SPEED??

 

regards

Jake

 

Ish.

 

Meno means within the same given speed (allegro for example) that you continue with noticeable less speed. But not dropping down to something like andante...

I think important is as well that you play a bit in a different speed without adjusting it like in a ritardando. You play a bit slower and when it says back to full speed - well, than it´s the original speed again.

 

Christian

 

There we go, a definitive answer. Thanks very much, Christian. It even gives me an excuse to play the difficult bit slower....