Musical terminology

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Below is a list of terms used in musical terminology which are likely to occur on printed or sheet music. Many of these terms have an Italian etymology (See Italian musical terms for a list of such terms, their translations and English meanings), reinforcing the Italian origins of standard modern musical notation. Most of the other terms are taken from either the French or German languages; these will be indicated by "(Fr.)" and "(Ger.)", respectively. In different countries, the terms you see below may be written in the language of that country.

Unless indicated otherwise, these terms are assumed to be Italian (or English) in origin.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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A

a, à (Fr.) – "at", "to", "by", "for", "in", "in the style of"
aber (Ger.) – "but"
a cappella – in the manner of chapel music, without instrumental accompaniment
accelerando – gradually increasing the tempo; "accelerating"
accentato – "with emphasis"
acciaccatura – "crushing": a very fast grace note that is "crushed" against the note that follows and takes up no value in the measure
accompagnato – "accompanied": the accompaniment must follow the singer who can speed up or slow down at will
adagietto – "rather slow"
adagio – "slow"
adagissimo – "very slow"
ad libitum (commonly ad lib) – the speed and manner are left to the performer
affettuoso – "tenderly"
affrettando – "hurrying", pressing onwards
agile – "swiftly"
agitato – "agitated"
al, alla – "to the", "in the manner of" (al before masculine nouns, alla before feminine)
alla breve – two minim (half-note) beats to a bar, rather than four crotchet (quarter-note) beats
alla marcia – "in the style of a march"
allargando – "broadening", "getting a little slower"
allegretto – "a little lively", or "moderately fast"
allegro – "lively", or "fast"
als (Ger.) – "than"
altissimo – "very high"
amabile – "amiable", "pleasant"
amoroso – "loving"
andante – "moderate tempo" just this side of slow, at a walking pace
andantino – slightly faster than andante (but earlier it sometimes used to mean slightly slower than andante)
animato – "animated", "lively"
antiphon – a liturgical or other composition consisting of choral responses, sometimes between two choirs; a passage of this nature forming part of another composition
apaisé (Fr.) – "calmed"
a piacere – "at pleasure"; Used to indicate that the performer does not have to follow the rhythm strictly
appassionato – "passionately"
appoggiatura – "leaning": a grace note that "leans" on the following note, taking up some of its value in the measure
a prima vista – playing something at first sight of the sheet music
arietta – a short aria
arioso – literally "airy"; in the manner of an aria; melodious
arpeggio – literally, like a harp. Used to indicate that the notes of a certain chord are to be played quickly one after another (usually from lowest to highest) instead of at the same moment. In piano music this is sometimes a solution in playing a wide-ranging chord whose notes cannot be played otherwise. Music generated by the limited hardware of video game computers uses a similar technique to create a chord from one tone generator. Arpeggios (or arpeggi) are also accompaniment patterns. See also broken chord in this list.
arco – "played with the bow", as opposed to pizzicato "plucked", in music for bowed instruments; used to cancel a pizzicato direction
assai – "very"
assez (Fr.) – "enough", "sufficiently"; sometimes used in the same sense as assai
a tempo – "in time", used on its own to indicate that the performer should return to the main tempo of the piece (after an accelerando or ritardando, etc.); also may be found in combination with other terms such as a tempo giusto (in strict time) or a tempo di menuetto (at the speed of a minuet)
attacca – (at the end of a movement): a direction to begin (attack) the next movement immediately, without a gap or pause
Ausdruck (Ger.) – "expression"
ausdrucksvoll (Ger.) – "expressively"
avec (Fr.) – "with"

B

barbaro – "barbarous"
basso continuo – a bass part played continuously throughout a piece to give harmonic structure; used especially in the Baroque era
beat – 1) the pronounced rhythm of music; 2) one single stroke of a rhythmic accent
bellicoso – "warlike", aggressive
ben – "well" (as in ben marcato = well marked)
bewegt (Ger.) – "moved", "speeded"
bis – "again", "twice"
bisbigliando – "whispering": a special tremolo effect on the harp where a chord or note is rapidly repeated at a low volume
bocca chiusa – with closed mouth
brillante – "brilliantly", "with sparkle"
brio – "vigour"; usually in con brio (see below)
brioso or con brio – "vigorously"
broken chord – a chord in which the notes are not all played at once, but in some more or less consistent sequence. They may follow singly one after the other, or two notes may be immediately followed by another two, for example. See also arpeggio in this list, which as an accompaniment pattern may be seen as a kind of broken chord; see Alberti bass.
bruscamente – "brusquely"

C

calando – "lowering"; getting slower and softer: rit. and dim.
cambiare – "to change"; any change, such as to a new instrument
cantabile – "singingly"
capo – beginning (lit. "head")
capriccioso – "capriciously"
cédez (Fr.) – "give way"
cesura or caesura (Latin form) – often called "railroad tracks"; indicates complete break in sound
chiuso – "closed": calls for a horn to be muted by hand
coda – closing section appended to a movement (lit. "tail")
codetta – literally a small coda (see last); but usually applied to a passage appended to a section of a movement, not to a whole movement
col, colla – "with the" (col before a masculine noun, colla before a feminine noun); (see next for example)
col legno – "with the wood"; indicates that the strings (for example, of a violin) are to be struck with the wood of the bow; also battuta col legno: "beaten with the wood"
coloratura – "coloration"; elaborate ornamentation of a vocal line; especially, a soprano voice suited to such elaboration
colossale – "tremendously"
col pugno – "with the fist"; bang the piano with the fist
come prima – "like the first (time)", often applied to tempo; as before
come sopra – literally "as above"; usually, like the previous (tempo)
common time – the time signature 4/4: four beats per measure, each beat a quarter note (a crotchet) in length. 4/4 is often written on the musical staff as C. The symbol is not a "C" as an abbreviation for "common time", but a broken circle. The full circle at one time stood for triple time, 3/4.
comodo – "comfortable", at moderate speed
con – "with," in very many musical directions, for example con allegrezza ("with liveliness"), con amore ("with tenderness"); (see also col, colla, above)
con amore, or (in Spanish and sometimes in Italian) con amor – "with love", tenderly
con affetto – "with affect" (that is, with emotion)
con brio – "with spirit"
con effetto – "with effect"
con fuoco – "with fire", in a fiery manner
con moto – "with motion"
con slancio – "with enthusiasm"
con sordino – "with the mute"
coperti – literally "covered"; on a drum, muted with a cloth
crescendo – progressively louder; cf. diminuendo
cut time – same as the meter 2/2: two half-note (minim) beats per measure. Notated and played like common time (4/4), except with the beat lengths doubled. Indicated by three quarters of a circle with a vertical line through it, which resembles the cent symbol ¢. This comes from a literal "cut" of the C symbol of common time. Thus, a quarter note in cut time is only half a beat long, and a measure has only two beats. See also alla breve.

D

da capo – "from the beginning"
deciso – "decisively"
decrescendo – same as diminuendo or dim. (see below)
delicatamente – "delicately"
diminuendo, dim. or decrescendo – "dwindling": with gradually decreasing volume (cf. crescendo)
devoto – "religiously"
dissonante – "dissonant"
divisi or div. – literally "divided": in a part in which several musicians normally play exactly the same notes they are instead to split the playing of the written simultaneous notes among themselves. It is most often used for string instruments. (The return from divisi is marked unisono: see in this list.)
dolce – "sweetly"
dolcissimo – "very sweetly"
dolente – "sorrowfully"
doloroso – "sorrowfully", "plaintively"
D.S. al coda or dal segno al coda (or, strictly but rarely seen, ...alla coda) – "from the sign to the coda": means to return to a place in the music designated by the "sign" (a marking resembling a letter S with a diagonal through it and a dot to either side) and continue until directed to move to the coda, a separate ending section. (See Coda in this list.)
D.S. al fine – (or dal segno al fine) "from the sign to the end": means to return to a place in the music designated by the sign (see preceding entry) and continue to the end of the piece.
dur (Ger.) – "major". Used in key signatures as, for example, "A-dur" (A major), "B-dur" (B♭ major), or "H-dur" (B major). See also moll ("minor") in this list.
dynamics – refers to the relative volumes in the execution of a piece of music. See dynamics (music).

E

Empfindung (Ger.) – "Feeling"
encore (Fr.) – "once more" (direction to play section again)
enfatico – "emphatically"
eroico – "heroically"
espirando – "gasping", dying away
espressivo – "expressively"
estinto – "as soft as possible," "lifeless" (literally "extinguished")

F

facile – "easily"
fermata – indicates that a rest or note is to be held for a duration that is at the discretion of the performer or conductor; (sometimes called "bird's eye")
feroce – "ferociously"
fieramente – "proudly"
fine – "the end", often in phrases like al fine ("to the end")
flebile – "mournfully"
focoso – "passionately"
forte – usually marked with f: to be played or sung loudly. The term fortissimo, or ff, means "very loudly". See dynamics.
fortepiano – 1. loud, then immediately soft (see dynamics); 2. an early pianoforte
fortissimo – as loudly as possible (see note at pianissimo, in this list)
forzando or fz – see sforzando
fresco – "freshly"
fuoco – "fire"; "con fuoco" means "with fire"
furioso – "wildly"

G

gaudioso – with joy
gentile – "gently"
geschwind (Ger.) – "quickly"
getragen (Ger.) – "sustainedly"
giocoso – "gaily"
giusto – strictly, exactly
glissando – a continuous sliding from one pitch to another (a "true" glissando), or an incidental scale played while moving from one melodic note to another (an "effective" glissando). See glissando for further information; and compare portamento in this list.
grandioso – "grandly"
grazioso – "gracefully"
gustoso – "with gusto"

H

Hauptstimme (Ger.) – "chief part", that designates the contrapuntal line of primary importance, in opposition to Nebenstimme

I

immer (Ger.) – "always"
imperioso – "imperiously"
impetuoso – "impetuously"
improvisando – with improvisation
in altissimo – play an octave higher
incalzando – "getting faster and louder" (the exact opposite of calando)
in modo di – "in the art of", "in the style of"
infurianto – "furiously"
intimo – "intimately"
irato – "angrily"

K

kräftig (Ger.) – "strongly"

L

lacrimoso – "sadly" (literally "tearfully")
lamentando – "complaining"
lamentoso – "mournfully"
langsam (Ger.) – "slowly"
larghetto – "somewhat slowly"; not as slow as largo
largo – "slowly"
lebhaft (Ger.) – "briskly", "lively"
legato – "smoothly"; in a connected manner. See articulation.
leggiero – "lightly", "delicately"
lent (Fr.) – "slowly"
lento – "slowly"
libero – "free", "freely"
loco – play at the pitch written (generally used to cancel an 8va direction)
lugubre – "lugubrious"
luminoso – "luminously"
lusingando – "coaxingly"

M

ma – "but"
ma non troppo – "but not too much"
maestoso – "in a stately fashion", "majestically"
magico – "magically"
magnifico – "magnificent"
malinconico – "melancholy"
mano destra – [played with the] right hand (abbreviation: MD or m.d.)
mano sinistra – [played with the] left hand (abbreviation: MS or m.s.)
marcatissimo – "very accentuatedly"
marcato – play every note as though it is accented
marcia – a march; alla marcia means "in the manner of a march"
martellato – hammered out
marzial – "martially"
mässig (Ger.) – "moderately"
MD – see mano destra
melancolico – "melancholic"
measure – the period of a musical piece that encompasses a complete cycle of the time signature, e.g., in 4/4 time, a measure has four quarter-note beats
meno – "less"; see meno mosso, for example, under mosso
mesto – "mournful", "sad"
meter (or metre) – the pattern of a music piece's rhythm of strong and weak beats
mezza voce – "with subdued or moderated volume", literally "half voice"
mezzo – "half"; used in combinations like mezzo forte (mf), meaning "moderately loud"
mezzo forte – "half loudly": directs the musician to play moderately loudly. See dynamics.
mezzo piano – "half softly": directs the musician to play moderately softly. See dynamics.
mezzo-soprano – a female singer with a range usually extending from the A below middle C to the F an eleventh above middle C. Mezzo-sopranos generally have a darker vocal tone than sopranos, and their vocal range is between that of a soprano and that of an alto.
mobile – "flexible", "changeable"
moderato – "moderate" (normally as a tempo indication); often combined with other terms, for example, "allegro moderato"
modesto – "modest"
moll (Ger.) – "minor". Used in key signatures as, for example, "a-moll" (A minor), "b-moll" (B♭ minor), or "h-moll" (B minor). See also dur ("major") in this list.
molto – "very"
morendo – "dying away" in tone or tempo
mosso – "motion"; used with a preceding "più" or "meno" (see in this list), for "faster" or "slower" respectively
MS – see mano sinistra
moto – "motion"; usually seen as "con moto," meaning "with motion" or "quickly"
munter (Ger.) – "lively"

N

narrante – "narratingly"
naturale, nat. – "resume normal playing mode". This important instruction is necessary to discontinue a 'special effect' such as col legno, sul tasto, sul ponticello or playing in harmonics.
Nebenstimme (Ger.) – "under part". A secondary contrapuntal part, always occurring simultaneously with, and subsidiary to, the Hauptstimme.
nicht (zu) schnell (Ger.) – "not (too) fast"
nobile – "in a noble fashion"
notes inégales (Fr.) – "unequal notes"; a principally Baroque performance practice of applying long-short rhythms to pairs of notes written as equal

O

omaggio – "homage", "celebration"
ossia – denotes an alternative way of performing a passage, which is often notated with a footnote, additional small notes, or an additional staff
ostinato – a short musical pattern that is repeated throughout an entire composition or portion of a composition

P

passionato – "passionately"
pesante – "heavy and ponderous"
peu à peu (Fr.) – little by little
pianissimo (pp) – a directive to play very softly, even softer than piano. This convention can be extended; the more p's that are written, the softer the composer wants the musician to play, thus ppp (pianississimo) would be softer than pp.

Note: it should be noted that any dynamics in a piece should always be played relative to the other dynamics found in the music. Thus, pp should be played as softly as possible, but if ppp is found later in the piece, pp should be markedly louder than ppp. Likewise, ff should be played as loud as possible, but if fff is found later in the piece, ff should be noticeably quieter. More than three ps (ppp) or three fs (fff) are uncommon.

piano – marked p, a directive to play or sing softly. See dynamics.
piano-vocal score – the same as a vocal score, a piano arrangement with singing of an opera or a cantata.
piacevole – "pleasant"
piangevole – "plaintive"; in the style of a lament
più – "more"; see mosso for an example
pizzicato – "plucked", in music for bowed strings; as opposed to arco, which means "played with the bow", and which is inserted to cancel a pizzicato instruction
pochettino (poch.) – "very little"
poco – "a little", as in poco più allegro ("a little faster")
poco a poco – "little by little"
poi – "then", indicating a subsequent instruction in a sequence; diminuendo poi subito fortissimo, for example: "getting softer then suddenly very loud"
portamento – 1. generally, sliding in pitch from one note to another (especially in singing; more often called glissando in instrumental music); 2. in piano music, an articulation between legato and staccato, like portato, in this list
portato – non-legato but not as short as staccato (same as portamento [2], in this list)
posato – "settled"
potpourri or pot-pourri – a kind of musical form structured as ABCDEF... etc.; the same as medley or, sometimes, fantasia
precipitato – "precipitately"
prestissimo – "extremely quickly", as fast as possible
presto – "very quickly"
prima volta – "the first time"; for example prima volta senza accompanimento ("the first time without accompaniment")
primo, or prima – "first"

Q

quasi – "as if", "almost"

R

rallentando (rall.) – "progressively slower"
rapido – "fast"
rasch (Ger.) – "fast"
religioso – "religiously"
repente – "suddenly"
restez (Fr.) – remain on a note or string
rinforzando (rf) – "stressed by extra force"; sometimes like a sudden crescendo, but often applied to a single note
risoluto – "resolutely"; played in a bold manner
ritardando (ritard. or rit.) – "progressively slower"
ritenuto (riten. or rit.) – "held back," or "slower" (usually more so than a ritardando; and it may, unlike ritardando, apply to a single note)
roulade (Fr.) – a florid vocal phrase
rubato – flexibility of tempo, within a musical phrase, for expressive effect

S

sanft (Ger.) – "gently"
scherzando – "playfully"
scherzo – literally "a joke"; a musical form, originally and usually in fast triple time, often replacing the minuet in the later Classical period and the Romantic period, in symphonies, sonatas, string quartets and the like; in the 19th century some scherzi were independent movements for piano, etc.
schnell (Ger.) – "fast"
schneller (Ger.) – "faster"
scordatura – an alternative tuning used for the strings of a string instrument
secco – "dry"
sehr (Ger.) – "very"
sempre – "always"
senza – "without"
senza sordino – "without the mute"
serioso – "seriously"
sforzando or sfz – a sudden strong accent
silencio – silence
simile – "similarly", i.e. continue applying the preceding directive, whatever it was, to the following passage.
smorzando (or smorz.) – smother the notes; literally "dying away"
soave – "smoothly"
solo, plural soli – "alone"; played by a single instrument. The instruction soli requires more than one player; in a jazz big band this refers to an entire section playing in harmony.
sostenuto – "sustained"
sotto voce – soft tones, literally "under voice", used as a direction instructing the singer or instrumentalist to proceed in a more understated or more subtle fashion
spiccato – literally "distinct", "separated"; a way of playing the violin and other bowed instruments by bouncing the bow on the string, giving a characteristic staccato effect
spiritoso – "spiritedly"
staccato – an indication to play with a sharp attack, and briefly. In music notation a small dot under or over the note indicates that the note is to be sounded staccato.
stanza – a verse of a song
strepitoso – "noisy"
stretto – "faster" (literally "tight", "narrow"); also, a passage in a fugue in which the contrapuntal texture is denser, with close overlapping entries of the subject in different voices; by extension, similar closely imitative passages in other compositions
stringendo – with a pressing forward or acceleration of the tempo (literally, "becoming stretto", see preceding entry)
subito – "suddenly"
sul ponticello – in string playing, an indication to bow (or sometimes to pluck) very near to the bridge, producing a characteristic glassy sound, which emphasizes the higher harmonics at the expense of the fundamental; the opposite of sul tasto
sul tasto – in string playing, an indication to bow (or sometimes to pluck) over the fingerboard; the opposite of sul ponticello

T

tempo – "time"; the overall speed of a piece of music
teneramente – tenderly
tenuto – "held"; an instruction to touch on a note slightly longer than usual, but without generally altering the note's value
tremendo – "frightening"
tremolo – a rapid repetition of the same note, or an alternation between two or more notes. It can also be intended (inaccurately) to mean a rapid and repetitive variation in pitch for the duration of a note (see vibrato). It is notated by a strong diagonal bar across the note stem, or a detached bar for a set of notes (or stemless notes).
tre corde, tc, (sometimes inaccurately tre corda) – literally "three strings"; an instruction to release the soft pedal (in piano music). See una corda.
troppo – "too much"; usually seen as "non troppo", meaning "moderately" or, when combined with other terms, "not too much", such as allegro [ma] non troppo ("fast but not too fast")
tutti – "all together" (literally just "all"), usually used in an orchestral or choral score when the orchestra or all of the voices come in at the same time, also seen in Baroque-era music where two instruments share the same copy of music, after one instrument has broken off to play a more advanced form: they both play together again at the point marked tutti. See also: ripieno.

U

un, uno, or una – "one", as for example in the following entries
una corda – "one string"; a directive in piano music for the musician to depress the soft pedal, altering, and reducing the volume of, the sound. In some pianos, this literally results in the hammer striking one string rather than two or three. (For most notes on modern instruments, in fact it results in striking two rather than three strings.) Its counterpart, tre corde ("three strings"; see in this list), is the opposite: the soft pedal is to be released.
un poco – "a little"
unisono, or unis (Fr.) – "in unison"; several players in a group are to play exactly the same notes within their written part, as opposed to splitting simultaneous notes among themselves. Often used to mark the return from divisi (see in this list).

V

vibrato – a more or less rapidly repeated slight alteration in the pitch of a note, used to give a richer sound and as a means of expression. Often confused with tremolo, which refers either to a similar variation in the volume of a note, or to rapid repetition of a single note.
vittorioso – "victoriously"
vivace – "lively", "up-tempo"
vivacissimo – "very lively"
vocal score or piano-vocal score – a music score of an opera, or a vocal or choral composition with orchestra (like oratorio or cantata) where the vocal parts are written out in full but the accompaniment is reduced to two staves and adapted for playing on piano.
volante – "flying"
V.S. (volti subito) – "turn page quickly". Found often in orchestral parts.

W

wolno – a Polish word meaning "loose" or "slowly". Found as a directive in "The Elephant" from "The Carnival of the Animals" by Saint-Saëns. Rarely used.

Z

Zählzeit (Ger.) – (lit. "count-time") "beat"
zart (Ger.) – "tender"
Zartheit (Ger.) – "tenderness"
zärtlich (Ger.) – "tenderly"
zehn (Ger.) – "ten"
Zeichen (Ger.) – "sign"
Zeitmass, Zeitmaß(Ger.) – "time-measure", i.e. "tempo"
zelo, zeloso, zelosamente (It.) – "zeal", "zealous", "zealously"
ziehen (Ger.) – "to draw out"
zitternd (Ger.) "trembling" (= "tremolando")
zögernd (Ger.) – "doubtful", "delaying", i.e. "rallentando"

External links

[British vs. American Musical Terms]
[Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary] (contains audio samples)
[Choral Conducting Terms]


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