Piano Students Dictionary of Terms
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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 doppio movimento twice as fast 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 Other
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_musical_terminology |
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 8va 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 |
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