Songs that use Tempo changes

The tempo of music is too often neglected by songwriters and producers. Whether it's big, book-ending tempo shifts, or subtle rubato swells, playing with tempo has so much expressive potential!

And, an extra special thanks goes to Douglas Lind, Vidad Flowers, Ivan Pang, Waylon Fairbanks, Jon Dye, Austin Russell, Christopher Ryan, Toot & Paul Peijzel, the channel’s Patreon saints! 😇

0:00 Introduction
0:29 Baba O'Riley by The Who
1:34 Come On Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners
3:32 Proud Mary by Ike & Tina Turner
5:07 Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand
6:14 We Are Young by fun.
6:59 Prayer Of The Refugee by Rise Against
7:52 Welcome To The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance
8:48 evermore by Taylor Swift
10:16 Good Vibrations by The Beach Boys
11:15 Paranoid Android by Radiohead
11:58 Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen
13:17 Scenes from an Italian Restaurant by Billy Joel
14:11 Tiny Dancer by Elton John
14:45 Rubato
16:05 Dawn Chorus by Thom Yorke
16:35 Click tracks
19:01 thank you to my Patreons

[timmccarthy]

Hey, not bad! He made it more than 10 minutes without mentioning Radiohead!

[paulsoderquist]

I've always loved the slow down in "Take Me Out" by Franz Ferdinand. Dynamic tempo perfection

[schwuischwui]

i’m really glad radiohead is getting some more attention on this channel, he hardly mentions them.

[RobinSylveoff]

6:41 it's amusing that the abrupt change in We Are Young completely messes up the audience clapping

[verynice]

Woke up, fell out of bed. Dragged a comb across my head.

[Bingus-the-wingus]

Mama is another My Chemical Romance song that has a tempo change, I believe! Also, they had a lot of (probably) unintentional rhythmic fluctuations on their first album too. Honey This Mirror Isn't Big Enough For The Two Of Us has a bit around the start of the bridge where there was an unintentional speeding up part, but it goes back to the original tempo almost immediately. And on Demolition Lovers, it speeds up around when the drums and guitars come in harder and Gerard starts screaming more. I think Demolition Lovers has some other tempo changes as well. Also I think there might be something on Drowning Lessons, but I'm not sure

[fruityloopsfan]

I would've expected Free Bird to be on here, absolutely legendary tempo change.

[seanhollandcanada]

Stairway to Heaven. But of course, if you used that as an example you'd be zapped by the death ray.

[TimACroninMusic]

Awwww, I was waiting for him to talk about big metal breakdowns where it goes from, like 180 to 45.

[ZOB]

I think in Bohemian Rhapsody they were going for the double time/half time feel. They aren’t exactly doubles and halves, but it’s pretty close. 72-146 (as opposed to 144), then 139-72. Off by two bpm in the first one and five bpm in the second. Not bad, considering it was played on tape by humans.

[AustinLindstrom]

"Black Parade" is overwhelmingly underrated. I don't care what genres of guitar-based music you may or may not like, it's a masterwork.

[crosstalkclub]

"Chop Suey" has multiple tempo changes. For some reason, the slowdowns in the chorus manage to heighten the intensity of the music.

[louie.kazooie]

I love how "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" by Céline Dion plays with tempo. The constant slowing down and speeding up add so much to the song's emotion and make it feel alive!

[weissquaeul]

My favourite song that has (quite a few) tempo changes is Ode to Sleep by Twenty One Pilots, because the tempo changes have a specific meaning in the context of the lyrics. The tempo reflects the moods or the state of mind of the narrator that are also in the lyrics. There's parts where the lyrics are upbeat and hopeful, and so the music and the tempo reflects that, and there's slower parts that feel really heavy where the lyrics are quite dark. I just love how the tempo is used to show this huge contrast in the lyrics

[mansm]

Why haven't you featured me? When I play I alter the tempo at every bar!

[GiveZeeAChance]

The change in harmonic motion helps with the slowdown in "We Are Young." I love how tempo changes can be a little deceptive if the harmonic motion changes at the same time

[duckman]

Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand is one of the best examples of a Tempo change in a song. It hits everytime you listen to it.

[comasmusica]

Honorable mention: Pink Floyd's _Money_ changes tempo _and_ time (7/8 -> 4/4) at the same moment, and does so seamlessly.

[strawberrijay]

The bridge section in "House of Memories" by Panic! at the Disco has a very cool tempo change as well

[eliasvalgeirsson]

Roundabout by Yes has a very subtle tempo change, I only noticed it after playing along to the song, its a very natural speed up, like the band might have been excited recording the song.
Edit: actually the tempo is all over the place in the song.