Factors That Influence Tempo
Smallest Prevalent Note Values
If you “take a step back” to look at a hymn, you can easily detect the smallest note value that occurs most frequently. This is the “prevalent note value” that helps determine the tempo.
Hymns with EIGHTH NOTES as the smallest prevalent note value tend to move at a slower quarter-note pulse than those with QUARTERS OR HALF NOTES as the smallest value. Consider, for example, “Joy To The World” (no. 201, Antioch), a jubilant hymn, which is marked at quarter=76-96. Yet “Dearest Children, God Is Near You” (no. 96), a gentle hymn, is marked at a faster tempo: quarter=92-112. An important difference between the two hymn tunes is the smallest prevalent note value: the eighth note in the jubilant hymn and the quarter in the gentle one.
