Allegretto Tempo: Meaning and BPM Range

What does allegretto mean?

Allegretto is an instruction to play moderately fast, with a light and graceful character. It is formed from allegro (“cheerful, lively”) plus the Italian diminutive suffix -etto, so it means “a little lively” or “a little allegro”.

The diminutive reduces speed and weight together. An allegretto moves at a comfortable pace and sounds easy rather than energetic. On the scale of Italian tempo words it sits just below allegro and on top of the moderato range.

What BPM is allegretto?

About 112 to 120 BPM in commonly cited modern charts. Each beat lasts between 535.71 ms and 500 ms.

The 3/4 bar column matters because many allegrettos are minuets and dance movements in triple time. The milliseconds per note for any BPM page adds dotted and triplet values.

Why the allegretto range is so narrow

Allegretto spans only 8 BPM because it fills the gap between moderato and allegro. Its whole range, 112–120 BPM, lies inside moderato’s 108–120 BPM.

The overlap shows that allegretto is defined more by character than by number. At 116 BPM the same passage can be moderato or allegretto; the marking tells the performer whether to play it evenly and firmly (moderato) or lightly, with a lift on the beat (allegretto). That lightness is why it often heads dance-based and playful movements.

Allegretto vs allegro and moderato

Allegro is faster than allegretto; moderato covers the same speeds with a plainer character. Andante lies below all three.

Allegretto and allegro meet at 120 BPM, where a quarter note lasts 500 ms. The guide to allegro, the full fast tempo covers the range above, and the moderato page on the restrained middle tempo explains the marking that shares allegretto’s speeds.

Allegretto in minuets and inner movements

Classical composers often marked minuets and other inner movements allegretto. The light, graceful speed suits a dance in 3/4 and contrasts with a faster finale.

Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2 No. 1, has a third movement headed Menuetto – Allegretto, placed between an Adagio and a Prestissimo finale. The allegretto marking also appears on moderate movements that replace a traditional slow movement, as in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. The guide to the 3/4 time signature and how to count it covers the triple meter these minuets use.

Common allegretto qualifiers

Qualifiers adjust the mood of an allegretto more than its speed.

• Allegretto scherzando — moderately fast and playful.
• Allegretto grazioso — moderately fast and graceful.
• Allegretto moderato — a restrained allegretto.
• Poco allegretto — a little allegretto; gentler still.
• Allegretto ma non troppo — moderately fast, but not too fast.

Famous pieces marked allegretto

Allegretto heads several of the most recognized movements in Classical music.

• Beethoven, Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92 — second movement, Allegretto.
• Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 14 “Moonlight”, Op. 27 No. 2 — second movement, Allegretto.
• Mozart, Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major, K. 331 — third movement, Alla turca: Allegretto.

The Symphony No. 7 allegretto is a melancholy march in A minor, which shows that allegretto sets a pace, not always a cheerful mood. To practice any of these, start the metronome at 112 BPM for an allegretto and raise it toward 120 once the passage is clean.

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