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    Common Music Terms: Term Symbol, Example or Abbreviation Meaning

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    mikecruiser6820
    This document provides a list of common musical terms in Italian, French, German and occasionally English, along with their meanings. It includes over 50 terms with translations, such as allegro (fast), piano (soft), crescendo (gradually louder), da capo (return to the beginning), and molto (much). Italian musical terms dominate because Italian music was influential in Europe from 1600 to 1750, though French and German became more prevalent in the 19th century. The terms cover elements such as tempo, dynamics, expression, articulation, and structural sections.

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    Common Music Terms: Term Symbol, Example or Abbreviation Meaning

    Uploaded by

    mikecruiser6820
    890 views3 pages
    This document provides a list of common musical terms in Italian, French, German and occasionally English, along with their meanings. It includes over 50 terms with translations, such as allegro (fast), piano (soft), crescendo (gradually louder), da capo (return to the beginning), and molto (much). Italian musical terms dominate because Italian music was influential in Europe from 1600 to 1750, though French and German became more prevalent in the 19th century. The terms cover elements such as tempo, dynamics, expression, articulation, and structural sections.

    Original Description:

    Must know musical terms - teacher & student worksheet

    Original Title

    Must Know musical terms

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    This document provides a list of common musical terms in Italian, French, German and occasionally English, along with their meanings. It includes over 50 terms with translations, such as allegro (fast), piano (soft), crescendo (gradually louder), da capo (return to the beginning), and molto (much). Italian musical terms dominate because Italian music was influential in Europe from 1600 to 1750, though French and German became more prevalent in the 19th century. The terms cover elements such as tempo, dynamics, expression, articulation, and structural sections.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    890 views3 pages

    Common Music Terms: Term Symbol, Example or Abbreviation Meaning

    Uploaded by

    mikecruiser6820
    This document provides a list of common musical terms in Italian, French, German and occasionally English, along with their meanings. It includes over 50 terms with translations, such as allegro (fast), piano (soft), crescendo (gradually louder), da capo (return to the beginning), and molto (much). Italian musical terms dominate because Italian music was influential in Europe from 1600 to 1750, though French and German became more prevalent in the 19th century. The terms cover elements such as tempo, dynamics, expression, articulation, and structural sections.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 3
    At a glance
    Powered by AI
    The document provides definitions for many common music terms, mostly in Italian, that are used in musical notation.

    Some common Italian music terms included in the document are allegro, andante, crescendo, diminuendo, and molto and their meanings are provided.

    Dynamics markings included in the document are piano, mezzo forte, fortissimo, crescendo, and diminuendo which indicate volume levels.

    Common Music Terms

    Most words seen in music are Italian because Italian music dominated
    Europe from 1600 to 1750. Italian words are still used by composers all
    over the world today, but French and German (even English
    occasionally!) became more common from the 19th century onwards.

    Term Symbol, example or Meaning


    abbreviation
    8va Play the notes one octave higher

    8vb Play the notes one octave lower

    A tempo Back to the previous speed


    Accelerando accel. Gradually getting faster
    Accent Play the note(s) louder to make it
    stand out

    Adagio Slowly
    Allegretto Fairly fast.
    Allegro Fast and lively
    Andante At a moderate walking speed
    Arpeggio Play the notes of a chord
    (arp.) consecutively, like a harp or guitar

    Cantabile In a singing style


    Coda Final section of a musical piece

    Crescendo Gradually getting louder


    (cresc.)

    Da Capo 1) D.C 1) To the beginning


    2) DC al Coda 2) From the beginning to the coda
    Dal segno 1) D.S 1) To the sign
    2) D.S al Coda 2) From the sign to the Coda
    Decrescendo Gradually getting softer
    (decresc.)
    Diminuendo Gradually getting softer
    (dim.)

    Dolce Sweetly
    Dynamics Varying intensities of loudness and
    softness throughout a piece of
    music (e.g. piano, mezzo forte,
    fortissimo, etc.)
    Espressivo espress. Expressively
    Fermata or The note (or rest) is to be held
    Pause (paused) at the player’s discretion

    Fine The end


    Forte f Loud
    Fortissimo ff Very loud
    Glissando Rapid scale passage produced by
    (gliss.) sliding finger over keys

    Grave Heavy, slow, ponderous


    Grazioso Gracefully.
    Gusto In good taste, tasteful
    L’istesso l’istesso The same. i.e. the tempo remains
    tempo the same as before, after a change
    was made
    Largo Slow and stately
    Legato Play the notes smoothly
    Lento Slowly
    Marcato Heavily accented
    (marc.)

    Maestoso Majestic, dignified


    Meno Less
    Metronome Shows how many beats to be
    mark played per minute. Sometimes
    shown as MM Q = 60, where MM
    means Maelzel’s Metronome
    Mezzo forte mf Moderately loud
    Mezzo piano mp Moderately soft
    Moderato At a medium (moderate) pace.
    Molto Much
    Piano p Soft, softly
    Pianissimo pp Very soft
    Più More
    Poco A little or slightly
    Poco a poco . Little by little, i.e. gradually
    Prestissimo . As fast as possible
    Presto Very fast
    Rallentando rall. Gradually getting slower
    Ritardando rit. Gradually getting slower
    Ritenuto riten. Held back. Slower at once
    Rubato . From the Italian "robbed".
    Indicates a relaxation of the strict
    rhythmic flow
    Scherzo Joke, jest. A sprightly movement,
    light and humorous in nature
    Segno Sign

    .
    Segue . Following immediately
    Sforzando sf or sfz Explosively; the note or chord
    should be heavily accented
    Simile sim. like, the same
    Slur Curved lines drawn over or under
    different notes means play the
    notes smoothly i.e. legato
    Sostenuto sost. Sustained
    Staccato stacc. Play in a short, detached manner
    Subito Suddenly
    Syncopation Moving the accent from the strong
    beat to a beat that is usually weak

    Tacet Be silent.
    Tempo The speed at which the music is
    performed
    Tenuto The note is to be played for it’s full
    (ten.) value, possibly with a very slight
    accent

    Tie Ties connect notes of the same


    pitch to create a sustained note
    equal to the sum of the tied notes
    Tremolo Rapidly repeated note or chord
    (trem.)

    Vivace Fast and lively

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