Music Terms Dictionary
A a     to, at, in accelerando (accel.)  growing faster accent   emphasis placed on a note or chord adagio   slowly a deux (a 2)   to be played by both instruments ad libitum (ad lib.)   freely; not in strict time affettuoso   with feeling and emotion agitato      agitated, restless, hurried al fine       to the end alla           in the style of alIa breve C  cut time; 2 beats to the measure; 1 beat to each half note allargando (allarg.)     growing slower and louder allegretto  a bright tempo; faster than moderato but slower than allegro allegro         fast amoroso      affectionately andante       a moderately slow but flowing tempo andantino     a little faster than andante animato       animated; with spirit a piacere      at pleasure; equivalent of ad libitum appassionato  with passion and emotion appoggiatura  a grace note which takes the accent and part of the time value of the following principal note; often called long grace note. arpeggio  notes of a chord played consecutively; a broken chord assai       very, rather a tempo   in the original tempo attacca    begin the next portion of the music without pausing B bassa low.  8va bassa means play the notes an octave lower than written ben       well bis        twice, repeat the passage bravura  boldness brillante  brilliant brio       vigor, spirit C cadenza     an elaborate solo passage, frequently unaccompanied, used as an embellishment calando      gradually softer and slower cantabile     in a singing style capriccioso   in a fanciful and capricious style chromatic     proceeding by semi tones (half steps) coda           a closing passage con, col       with con anima    with animation and boldness con brio       with vigor and brilliancy con espressione   with expression con fuoco    with fire and passion con moto     with motion con spirito    with spirit and energy crescendo (cresc.)  Increasing the volume or loudness of the tone D da, dal               from da capo (D.C.)  from the beginning D.C. al fine        from the beginning to the word Fine (the finish or end) dal segno (D.S.)   from the sign % D.S. al fine       from the sign to the word Fine decrescendo (decresc.)   decreasing the volume of the tone diminuendo (dim.)    gradually softer divisi (div.)     divided; each part to be played by a separate instrument dolce           sweetly dolcissimo   very sweetly dolore         sorrow, sadness doloroso       sadly dynamics       expression produced by the different degrees of volume of the tone E e                and elegante      elegant, graceful energico      energetic, vigorous enharmonic   alike in pitch but different in notation espressivo     expressively F fermata U     a pause or hold "hold & listen" finale       the concluding movement fine         the end forte (f)    loud forte-piano (fp) accent strongly, diminishing immediately to piano fortissimo (ff)     very loud forza         force, power, strength forzando (fz)    the note or chord strongly accented fuoco        fire, energy furioso      furious G  giocoso      humorous giojoso        joyous giusto          exact; in strict time glissando     glide over the keys with the back of hand or fingers grace notes   small notes added for an ornamental or embellishing effect grandioso      in a grand manner grave            solemnly and very slowly grazioso        gracefully gruppetto      a group of grace notes; a turn I  il        the impetuoso        impetuous K  key note       the tonic or first note in a scale		L lamentoso       lamenting, sad largamente       in a full, broad style larghetto        slowly, but not as slowly as largo largo       a slow, broad tempo ledger lines   short lines added above or below the staff for notes too high or too low to appear on or within the staff legato        in a smooth, connected manner, indicated by the slur leggiero     lightly lento     slow l'istesso tempo at the same tempo as previous passage or movement loco      as written; generally used after a passage marked 8vaM M ma      but ma non troppo      but not too much so maestoso      majestic, dignified maggiore      the major key marcato        in a marked and emphatic style marcia        march marziale      in a martial style meno         less meno mosso     less motion; slower mezzo      half, medium mezzo forte (mf)      moderately loud mezzo piano (mp )   moderately soft minore       the minor key misterioso    mysteriously moderato     moderately molto          much, very mordent M  "bite" ornament of mother note and lower auxiliaryof two or more notes that make up a very short trill morendo     dying away; softer and softer mosso        movement moto         motion N non           not non tanto    not too much notation      the art of representing music by written or printed characters (notes, rests, etc.) O obbligato     a counter-melody which complements the main theme and which constitutes an indispensable part of the composition octave      an interval of eight diatonic sounds; notes an octave apart have the same letter name, but one of them is higher than the other opus      a work or composition, ossia      otherwise; or else: also;  indicating another way of playing a passage ottava (8va.)     to be played an octave higher P  passionato      passionate patetico        pathetic pause U       a pause, also called hold or fermata (hold & listen) perdendosi      gradually softer and slower; dying away. pianissimo (pp)   very softly piano (p)           softly piu more,           as piu forte, piu lento, etc. piu mosso        more movement; faster poco               a little poco a poco    little by little pomposo         pompous, grand prestissimo       as fast as possible presto              very fast; faster than allegro primo (1mo )    the first, as Tempo Primo Q quasi         like; in the style of R rallentando (rall.)     gradually slower recitativo (recit.)     a style of performance intended to sound like a dramatic recitation in natural speech replica          repetition rinforzando (rfz.)   reinforced; played with added strength and emphasis risoluto      in a resolute and bold manner ritardando (rit.)      retarding, gradually slowing the tempo ritenuto (riten.)       in a slower tempo; held back rubato       robbing or taking from the notes their strict time value by alternately hurrying and retarding for the purpose of expression S scherzando        playfully segue       follows on; continue semplice    in a simple, unaffected manner s sempre      always, continually senza        without sforzando (sfz.)   with sudden force or emphasis simile       similarly; in like manner smorzando (smorz.)    extinguished; suddenly dying away solo a composition or passage for a single voice or instrument sordino       a mute, such as used for a violin, a trumpet sostenuto    sustained sotto voce    in a quiet, subdued tone spirito      spirit, energy staccato   detached; cut short stringendo (string.)     pressing; accelerating the tempo subito     immediately, suddenly . syncopation     a type of time structure in which an accented note occurs on an ordinarily weak beat and is prolonged through an ordinarily stronger beat T tacet       be silent; do not play tempo     rate of speed tenuto (ten.)   held for the full time value tranquillo     quietly, calmly .tremolo repetition of a note or chord with great rapidity producing a tremulous sound trill    a rapid alternation between the printed note and the next note above it (Baroque: printed note and the next note below it ) triplet     a group of three notes played in the time usually given to two notes of the same value troppo     too much turn T     an embellishment consisting of four rapidly played notes that wind around the printed note tutti     all together U  una,   one, an V velutatta      velvet vivace        lively, briskly vivo         animated, quick volti subito (v.s.)     turn the page immediately