A tempo vs Rubato

Side-by-side comparison of two musical terms.

	A tempo	Rubato
Definition	Return to the original tempo after a deviation.	Flexible, stolen time
Category	tempo	tempo
Pronunciation	ah TEHM-poh	roo-BAH-toh
Origin	Italian	Italian
BPM	—	—
Synonyms	in time resume tempo	tempo rubato stolen time
Antonyms	Rubato Ad libitum	a tempo tempo giusto
Usage	After the expressive rallentando, the marking a tempo snaps the ensemble back to the original pulse.	The pianist used tasteful rubato to shape the melody, never losing the underlying pulse.

Definition: Return to the original tempo after a deviation.
Category: tempo
Pronunciation: ah TEHM-poh
Origin: Italian
Synonyms: in time resume tempo
Antonyms: Rubato Ad libitum
Usage: After the expressive rallentando, the marking a tempo snaps the ensemble back to the original pulse.

Definition: Flexible, stolen time
Category: tempo
Pronunciation: roo-BAH-toh
Origin: Italian
Synonyms: tempo rubato stolen time
Antonyms: a tempo tempo giusto
Usage: The pianist used tasteful rubato to shape the melody, never losing the underlying pulse.