W. S. B. Mathews · section 2 of 24

Dictionary of musical terms

Accelerando (pronounced: atshelerando), becoming faster, accel-

erating. Adagio (pron. adajeeo), slowly.

Ad libitum, as you please.
Agitato (pron. ajeetato), agitated, excited

allegretto, lively, somewhat fast. Allegro (Allᵒ), fast, rapid. Andante (Andᵗᵉ), slow movement, quiet.

Andantino, somewhat faster than Andante.
Animato, animated, full of soul.
Arpeggio (pron. arpedjeeo), harp-like; breaking or detaching the

tones of a chord.

Assai, very.
A tempo, in regular time.
Basso, the bass.
Bis, twice.
Cadenza, brilliant flourish before the close of a piece.
Calando (cal.), getting slower and softer.
Calmato, calmed down, quiet.
Cantabile, Cantando, in a singing style, song-like.
Con, with.
Content, the distinctive quality of any piece.
Crescendo (cresc.) (pron. kreshendo), increasing in force.
Da Capo (D. C.), from the beginning.

Dal Segno (D. S.) (pron. dal senyo), from the sign 𝄋.

Diminuendo (dim.), decreasing in strength.
Dolce (dol.) (pron. doltshay), soft and sweet.
Energico (pron. enerjeeco), with energy and power.
Finale (feenahleh), the last movement of a piece in large form.
Fine (pron. feenay), end.
Forte (f), loud and strong.

Fortissimo (ff), very loud, (fff), as loud as possible. Forzato (fortzato) (fᶻ), Sforzato (sfᶻ, sf), strongly accentuated.

Grazioso (gratsiozo), Con grazia, gracefully.
Larghetto, not as slow as Largo.
Largo, slow, protracted; slower than Adagio.
Legato, tied, bound; Legatissimo, very much bound.
Lento, slow.
L'istesso Tempo, the same tempo or time.
Loco, play the notes as printed (used to indicate discontinuance

of 8va).

Maestoso, with majesty; dignified.
Marcato (marc.), made prominent; strongly marked.
M. D., right hand.
M. S., left hand.
Melanconico, sad.
Mezzo, half; Mezzoforte (mf), middling loud; Mezzopiano (mp),

middling soft; Mezza voce (m. v.), with suppressed voice.

Moderato, moderately.
Molto, very, much, many.
mp., mezzopiano.
a piacere (pron. piatshayre), as you please, at pleasure.

Piano (p), soft; Pianissimo (pp), very soft; (ppp), as softly as possible.

Più, more; Più mosso, faster.
Pizzicato (pitsicahto), picking the strings as on the guitar.

Poco, un poco, a little ; Pocoforte (pf), somewhat loud.

Presto, quick; Prestissimo, very quick.
Pulse, count, a beat.

Rallentando (rall. ), retarding the tempo.

Ritardando (ritard., rit.), retarding, slower by degrees.
Ritenuto (riten., rit.), holding back.
Scherzando (scherz.) (pron. skertsando), gay, playful.
Scherzo (pron. skertso), a lively composition.
Semplicita, simply, plainly.
Sempre, always.
Senza, without.
Senza Ped., without pedal.
Simile, similar, continuing in the same manner.
Sonore, resonant.

Sostenuto (sosten. ), sustained.

Sotto voce (pron. votshay), softly, as if in an undertone.
Spiritoso, Con spirito, with spirit, lively.
Staccato (stacc.) cut off suddenly; short tones.
Tempo, the time or measure of time.
Tempo di marcia, in march tempo.

Tenuto (ten. ), held.

Tutti, all.
Un poco, a little.
Valse, waltz; a dance.
Vivace (pron. veevatshay), lively.
Vivo, lively.