Allegretto BPM: How fast is Allegretto?
Published guides place Allegretto between 98 and 124 BPM, and they disagree: Symphony Nova Scotia lists 98–109, True Metronome 102–120, Wikipedia and Tunable 112–120, and Arabesque Conservatory 112–124. If your score prints a number with a note value, such as ♩ = 104, that number overrides every table. Below: the sources side by side, three real recordings of Allegretto movements with the pulse we measured in each, and what to do when your score only says Allegretto.
Four tables, one word, different numbers
Each row below is one published table read on 2026-10-10. The columns show the same source's Moderato, Allegretto and Allegro rows, so you can see where it puts Allegretto between its neighbours. Keep them side by side; do not average them into a new standard.
| Source | Moderato | Allegretto | Allegro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Symphony Nova Scotia | 86–97 | 98–109 | 109–132 |
| True Metronome | 108–120 | 102–120 | 120–156 |
| Wikipedia, “Tempo” | 108–120 | 112–120 | 120–156 |
| Arabesque Conservatory | 108–120 | 112–124 | 120–156 |
Tunable’s Allegretto page gives 112–120 with 116 as its “typical” value and notes that this range overlaps entirely with the upper range of Moderato. In True Metronome’s table Allegretto even starts (102) below where its Moderato starts (108). The overlap shared by four of the five sources is 112–120; Symphony Nova Scotia’s 98–109 does not reach it.
The neighbouring words have their own guides with other published ranges: Moderato BPM · Allegro BPM. A bare word cannot give the BPM of one recording.
Hear three real Allegretto movements
Each clip is the first 20 seconds of a public-domain recording of a movement its composer marked Allegretto, played by real musicians — no generated sound. The pulse figures are our own estimates from an onset analysis of the whole movement, so read them as measurements of that one performance, not as the correct tempo of the piece.
What this shows: three recordings of Allegretto-marked movements come out at roughly 98, 113 and 146 quarter-note beats per minute. Different time signatures, composers and performers — so this is not a ranking of the “right” speed. It is a reminder that Allegretto is a character instruction first and a number second.
How we measured the pulse
We decoded each full movement, detected note onsets, and looked for the spacing that repeats most strongly in separate 25–40 second windows. We then chose the pulse that matches the time signature (the quarter note in 2/4 and 3/4). The windows agreed within the ranges shown. Performers flex time, so these are estimates for one performance; to measure a recording you care about, tap along on the Tap Tempo page or use the audio analyzer.
Recordings: Paul Pitman and Vadim Chaimovich (piano) and the Musopen Symphony, released to the public domain through Musopen and hosted on Wikimedia Commons: Moonlight, II, K. 330, III, K. 550, III. The compositions are in the public domain. Clips are the first 20 seconds of each movement (the K. 330 clip starts 3.2 seconds into the file, after the opening silence), converted to mono WAV, with the first two clips raised in level to match the third and a short fade-out on each.
Why the numbers disagree: the word moved
Allegretto is the diminutive of allegro: the ending -etto means “little”, so it reads as “a little allegro” (Tunable, Songtive). That already makes it relative to a word that itself has no fixed number.
The meaning also shifted over time. The Wikipedia article on tempo says that in the 18th century Allegretto implied a speed very slightly faster than Andante, while from the 19th century it has often meant a speed just a little slower than Allegro. A footnote there cites the pianist and writer Charles Rosen, who suggests that many works marked Allegretto are nowadays played too quickly because of this confusion.
So one likely reason the tables differ is that they inherit different eras and different editorial habits. We do not claim to know which table any given composer had in mind; that is why the page shows them side by side and lets you hear real music instead.
Read the beat unit before you set the click
A BPM figure counts a written note value. Symphony Nova Scotia puts it plainly: the composer specifies which note value is the beat, and the marking says how many of those beats to play per minute. Take our third clip, the K. 550 minuet, which we measured at about 146 quarter-note beats per minute:
| Counting unit | Counts per bar | Per minute |
|---|---|---|
| Quarter note (the beat in 3/4) | 3 | about 146 |
| Whole bar (a dotted half note) | 1 | about 49 |
| Eighth note | 6 | about 292 |
Units stay visible: 146 quarter-note beats/min ÷ 3 beats per bar ≈ 49 bars/min
and 146 × 2 = 292 eighth-note counts/min. The music did not get
faster; only what we count changed.
In 2/4 (like our K. 330 clip) the quarter note is normally the beat. In 6/8 a score may count the dotted quarter instead, so a 6/8 Allegretto and a 3/4 Allegretto cannot share one number — check which note value the score’s beat marking names.
When your score just says Allegretto
- Look for a printed number first. If the score gives a note value and a number, such as ♩ = 104, use that. The word then only describes the character: a little lively, graceful, not driven.
- Name the beat unit. Read the time signature and decide what you are counting: the quarter note in 2/4 and 3/4, as in our Moonlight and K. 330 clips; check the score for a dotted quarter in 6/8. Write the unit next to every BPM you try.
- Bracket the tempo with three clicks. On your own metronome try the low end of the published ranges (about 98–102), the overlap that four of the five sources share (112–120), and one in between. Keep the meter, the unit and the passage fixed while you compare, and choose the one where the phrase stays light and moving without hurrying.
- Check against a real performance. Find a recording of the piece, tap along for at least 20 beats on the Tap Tempo page, and compare. Recordings differ (our three clips span about 98 to 146 quarter-note beats per minute), so pick the one that serves your rehearsal and write down the number and the unit.
Allegretto BPM: quick answers
What BPM is Allegretto?
There is no single value. The five sources we read give 98–109, 102–120, 112–120, 112–120 and 112–124; four of the five contain 112–120. A metronome mark printed in your score overrides all of them.
Is Allegretto faster or slower than Allegro?
Slower. The ending -etto makes it “a little allegro”. In the four tables above, Allegretto ends at 109 to 124 BPM and Allegro starts at 109 to 120, so the two touch or slightly overlap in some tables.
Is Allegretto faster than Moderato?
Usually by a small step, and the ranges overlap. Wikipedia lists Moderato at 108–120 and Allegretto at 112–120; True Metronome even starts Allegretto (102) below its Moderato (108).
Did Allegretto always mean the same speed?
No. According to Wikipedia’s tempo article it originally implied a speed slightly faster than Andante, and later came to mean slightly slower than Allegro.
What does the -etto ending mean?
It is an Italian diminutive meaning “a little”. Allegretto is a little allegro; the same ending turns largo into larghetto and adagio into adagietto (Tunable).
What this guide cannot decide
- There is no single universal Allegretto range. The sources read on 2026-10-10 differ, and we do not average them.
- The pulse figures are estimates. They describe one recording each and can move by a few BPM depending on the passage; performers flex time.
- A number without its beat unit is incomplete. Keep the note symbol, the BPM, the meter and the counted subdivision together.
- Three recordings are not a survey. They show how far real Allegretto movements can sit apart; they do not define the word.