Tempo/Tap and Metronome

[10761151100]

    Hi everyone,
  I have some questions about tempo and metronome. I see the quarter note that equals to 79 at the top of the first piano music sheet. In the piano music sheet, there are quarter notes, half notes, eighth notes, and whole notes. If the tempo of the quarter note is 79, is it correct that I add more 40 to have the approximate total tempo of 120 to play the eighth note? And I subtract 40 which I will have the approximate tempo of 40 to play the half note (eighth note is a half of quarter note, quarter note is a half of half note; we play the eighth note by holding it shorter than the quarter one and hold down the half note longer than the quarter one by half tempo). If these are correct, will the tempo of the whole note be 20?
   Can anyone give me any advice?
   Thanks in advanced.

[Petter]

You just double it, 1 quarter note equals 2 eight notes. If the tempo of the quarter notes is 79, 8 notes would be 148. And the half note equals two quarter note so split it in two. 

[scottmcc]

Petter meant 158.  math major.   

if your tempo is 80 per quarter note (just to make round numbers), then that means whole notes are 20, half 40, eighth 160, sixteenth 320.  by extension, 32nds would be 640, 64ths 1280, etc

and of course, the 80 refers to beats per minute, so if you do the division, it's a little more than one note a second.

and incidentally, the resting human heart rate is typically between 60-100.  coincidence?  probably not...the fastest tempos commonly employed are around 200 bpm, which is also about the fastest the heart can beat, and the slowest are typically 40-50, which is as slow as athletes can typically get their hearts.  so when they talk about feeling the pulse, go for it! 

[Petter]

Petter meant 158.  math major.   

 

I´m starting to get dyslectic aswell.

[10761151100]

   Thank you very much for giving me the great advice. 
   Hope you would have a great time.

[10761151100]

   I forgot to ask you guys about the most effective way to play piano well. To play a piece effectively, is it that I should play the right hand first, then play the left hand, and then play both hands at the same time? Can you give me some advice on playing piano well? I try to play both hands at the same time without using tempo to remember the notes in the piano music note of the piece first after that I will pay attention on the tempo. Is it the correct way to do it? Thanks again.

[rhpatten]

I would recommend IN FAVOUR  of trying to play both hands together on the first time that you try the piece. 

But I would recommend AGAINST disregarding rhythm.  If you have long notes and short notes, make them last for a long time and a short time respectively, and so on.   Otherwise you will be in danger of making a complete nonsense of the piece. 

However, unless you are a sight-reading genius, you will probably not want to play it, in your very first attempt, at high speed, even if that is called for by a written direction or by a Metronome Mark.  Something a little more cautious and comfortable will allow you to get the basic details properly in proportion to each other.  What you will want to do on the first attempt is to hear and follow the Melody of the music, and understand how it moves on to become something else, and then finally returns to its home.

Yes, by all means practice afterwards with hands separately.  But ALWAYS be sure to work out the exact rhythm of the notes and try to play this correctly from the outset.  It is as important as the position of the notes on the keyboard.

                                                                                Good luck !