Accelerando
Gradually Increasing Tempo
Acciaccatura
A Short Appoggiatura
Accompagnato
Accompanied; with the accompaniment following the soloist
Adagio
at ease; a slow tempo
Ad libitum
at liberty; speed left to performer.
A due
two voices or instruments; after divisi
Agitato
agitated; restless
Alla breve
two half-note beats; (2/2)
Allargando
broadening; becoming slower
Allegretto
light; cheerful; like allegro
Allegro
quick; lively; rapid
Amabile
graceful
Andante
at a walking pace; at a moderate tempo
Animato
animated; lively
Appoggiatura
a grace note that “leans” on the following note, taking up some of its value in the measure
Arco
Played with the bow
Arioso
in the manner of an aria
Assai
very
A tempo
in time; indication that the performer should return to the main tempo of the piece
Attacca
attack; direction to begin the next movement immediately
Basso continuo
continuous bass; played continuously to provide harmonic support; in Baroque
Cantabile
in a singing style

Cesura

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Caesure

break, stop; a complete break in sound; “railroad tracks”
Coda
a closing section appended to a movement
Codetta
a small coda
colla parte
with the soloist
colla voce
with the voice
Col legno
with the wood of the bow
Con
with
Con moto
with motion
Con sordino
with a mute
Dolce
sweetly
Double stop
the act of playing two notes simultaneously on a melodic percussion or stringed instrument
Dur
(German) major; used in key signatures
Espressivo
expressively
Fine
the end

Fortepiano

or

fp

strong/gentle; loud then immediately soft
Furioso
furiously
Grave
slowly and seriously
Grazioso
gracefully
Hemiola
the imposition of a pattern of rhythm or articulation other than that implied by the time signature
Langsam
(German) slowly
Larghetto
somewhat slowly; not as slow as largo
Largo
broadly; slowly
Leggiero
lightly, delicately
Lento
slowly
Liberamente
freely
L’istesso tempo
the same tempo
Ma non troppo
but not too much
Maestoso
majestically, in a stately fashion
Massig
(German) moderately
Mezzo voce
half voice
Moll
(German) minor; used in key signatures
Molto
very
Mosso
moving
Moto
motion; usually seen as con moto
Ostinato
repeated rhythmical pattern
Partitur
(German) full orchestral score
Passionato
passionately
Pastorale
in a pastoral style, peaceful and simple
Pausa
rest
Pesante
heavy, ponderous
Piu
more
Pizzicato
plucked
Poco
a little
Poco a poco
little by little
Poi
then; diminuendo poi subito fortissimo (softer then suddenly very loud)
Portamento
generally sliding in pitch from one note to another; esp. in singing
Prestissimo
extremely quick; as fast as possible
Presto
very quickly
Quasi
as if
Rallentando
progressively slower
Rapido
fast
Ritardando
slowing down
Rubato

flexible in tempo, applied to notes within a musical phrase for expressive effect;

“robbed time”

Schnell
(German) fast
Secco
dry; as in secco recitative
Sehr
(German) very
Semplice
simply
Sempre
always
Senza
without
Senza misura
without measure
Senza sordino
without the mute

Sforzando

or

sfz

made loud; sudden strong accent
Silenzio
silence
Simile
similarly; continue applying the preceding directive to the following passage
Sotto voce
under voice; subdued
Spiccato
distinct, separated; a way of playing stringed instruments by bouncing the bow on the string
Stretto
a passage in a fuge in which the contrapuntal texture is more dense, due to the close overlapping entries of the subject in various voices
Stringendo
with a pressing forward or acceleration of the tempo
Subito
suddenly
Sul Ponticello
on the bridge; an indication to bow very near to the bridge
Sul tasto
on the fingerboard; an indication to bow over the fingerboard
Tacet
silent; do not play
Tempo guisto
in strict time

Tempo primo

or

Tempo I

resume original tempo
Tenuto
held; sustained for full value
Tranquillo
calmly, peacefully
Troppo

too much;

usually seen as allegro non troppo

Tutti

all together, usually used

after a period of a solo section

Una corda

one string;

in piano music it means

;

hold down the soft pedal

Un poco
a little
Vivace
very lively