Common Musical Terms

TEMPO
Slow
grave - very slow, serious
largo - broad, stately
lento - slow
adagio - slow, tranquil
Moderate
andante - moving; literally, "walking"
moderato - moderately fast

Fast
allegro - fast; literally, "cheerful"
allegretto - fast; literally, "cheerful"
vivace - very fast
presto - very, very fast
prestissimo - as fast as possible

Acceleration
accelerando - with increasing rapidity
stringendo - pressing, becoming faster
doppio movimento - twice as fast
piu mosso - at a faster speed
piu moto or veloce - at a faster speed

Decreasing Speed
rallentando - gradually slower
ritardando - gradually slower
allargando - gradually slower
ritenuto - held back, slowed down
meno mosso - steady, but slower than before
meno moto - steady, but slower than before
morendo - dying, fading away
Return to Original Tempo
a tempo - resume previous tempo
tempo primo - go back to original tempo

Continue Into New Section
segue - continue into new section, do not stop
l'istesso tempo - continue at the same tempo

DYNAMICS
pianississimo - very, very soft
pianissimo - very soft
piano - soft
mezzo piano - medium soft
mezzo forte - medium loud
forte - loud
fortissimo - very loud
fortississimo - very, very loud
forte-piano - accent strongly, diminishing immediately to piano
crescendo - gradually louder
decrescendo or diminuendo - gradually softer

STYLE
agitato - restless, agitated
amoroso - affectionately
animato - with spirit
brilliante - bright-sparkling
delicato - delicately
deciso - decided, with firmness
dolce - softly, sweetly
doloroso - sorrowfully
furioso - furiously
grandioso - pompous, majestic
grazioso - in a graceful way
legato - smoothly, opposite of staccato
Maestoso - majestic, stately
marcato - detached and accented
passionato - with fervor
pesante - heavily, emphatically
risoluto - with bold, energetic resolve
scherzando - playfully
sostenuto - sustained, prolonged
sotto voce - in a quiet, subdued tone
spirito - with spirit
staccato - detached, separate
tranquillo - peacefully, calmly
violento - with violence
vivo - with life and animation
volante - flyingly
vivace - briskly, brightly

MISCELLANEOUS
8va - play one octave higher or lower than written notes
a2 or a due - together, both performers play
accent - play a note with added stress
ala - in the style of
coda - a closing section
con - with
poco a poco - little by little
con sordino - with mute
da capo or (D.C) - go back to the beginning
da capo al fine - go back to the beginning, play to the fine
dal Segno - go back to the sign
divisi - divided for separate instruments
fine - the end
glissando - slurred smoothly in a gliding manner
mezzo - half-moderately
molto - much, very
mosso - motion, movement
moto primo - same as at first
obbligato - counter melody
opus - a work
piu - more
poco or un poco - a little
poco a poco - little by little
precipitando - speedily, hurridly
senza - without
sforzando - with sudden emphasis
simile - the same
solo - for one performer
stretto or stretta - increase of speed
subito - suddenly
super - above
tacet - do not play
tempo - rate of speed
tempo di valse - in waltz time
tenuto - held for full value
trio - for three performers
triplet - a group of three notes
tutti - all the instruments
va crescendo - continue increasing

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