A variety of musical terms are encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian, in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions. Sometimes, the special musical meanings of these phrases differ from the original or current Italian meanings. Most of the other terms are taken from French and German, indicated by Fr. and Ger., respectively.
Unless specified, the terms are Italian or English. The list can never be complete: some terms are common, and others are used only occasionally, and new ones are coined from time to time. Some composers prefer terms from their own language rather than the standard terms listed here.
0–9
1 "sifflet" or one foot organ stop I usually for orchestral string instruments, used to indicate that the player should play the passage on the highest-pitched, thinnest string Tierce organ stop 2 two feet – pipe organ indication; see pipe organ stop for the twelfth interval II usually for orchestral string instruments, used to indicate that the player should play the passage on the second highest string; also used with the Cymbal stop on a pipe organ with the II indicating two ranks of pipes combined to make this stop's sound III usually for orchestral string instruments, used to indicate that the player should play the passage on the third-highest string; also used with the Scharf or Mixtur stop on a pipe organ with the III indicating three ranks of pipes 4 four feet – pipe organ rank that speaks one octave higher than 8 IV usually for orchestral string instruments, used to indicate that the player should play the passage on the lowest-pitched, thickest string, i.e. the fourth-highest string IV–VI mixture stop on pipe organ; the Roman numeral indicates how many ranks of pipes the stop includes 8 eight-foot pipe – pipe organ indication for a stop sounding at concert pitch and where the lowest note's pipe is about 8 feet long 808s Originally a classic Roland drum machine, the term now almost exclusively refers to the deep, synthetic sub-bass kick drum 16 sixteen-foot pipe – pipe organ indication calling for one octave below 8 where the lowest note's pipe is about 16 feet long 32 thirty-two-foot pipe – pipe organ indication calling for two octaves below 8 where the lowest note's pipe is about 32 feet long; also called sub-bass 64 sixty-four-foot pipe – pipe organ indication calling for three octaves below 8 where the lowest note's pipe is about 64 feet long (only a few organs in the world have this low of a pitch)
A a or à (Fr.) at, to, by, for, in à la (Fr.) in the style of... a battuta Return to normal tempo after a deviation. Not recommended in string parts, due to possible confusion with battuto (qv.); use a tempo, which means the same thing a bene placito Up to the performer a cappella lit. "in a chapel"; vocal parts only, without instrumental accompaniment a capriccio A free and capricious approach to tempo a due (a 2) intended as a duet; for two voices or instruments; together; two instruments are to play in unison after a solo passage for one of the instruments a niente To nothing; indicating a diminuendo which fades completely away a piacere At pleasure (i.e. the performer need not follow the rhythm strictly, for example in a cadenza) a prima vista lit. "at first sight". Sight-reading (i.e. played or sung from written notation without prior review of the written material; refer to the figure) a tempo In time (i.e. the performer should return to the stable tempo, such as after an accelerando or ritardando); 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) ab (Ger.) off, organ stops or mutes abafando (Port.) muffled, muted abandon or avec (Fr.) free, unrestrained, passionate abbandonatamente, con abbandono freely, in relaxed mode aber (Ger.) but accarezzevole Expressive and caressing (accel.) Accelerating; gradually increasing the tempo accelerato with increased tempo accent Accent, emphasis accentato/accentuato Accented; with emphasis acceso Ignited, on fire accessible Music that is easy to listen to/understand acciaccato Broken down, crushed; the sounding of the notes of a chord not quite simultaneously, but from bottom to top acciaccatura Crushing (i.e. a very fast grace note that is "crushed" against the note that follows and takes up no value in the measure) accidental A note that is not part of the scale indicated by the key signature. Accompanied (i.e. with the accompaniment following the soloist, who may speed up or slow down at will) accuratezza Precision; accuracy. con accuratezza: with precision acoustic Relating to music produced by instruments, as opposed to electric or electronic means ad libitum (commonly ad lib; Latin) At liberty (i.e. the speed and manner of execution are left to the performer. It can also mean improvisation.) adagietto Fairly slowly (but faster than adagio) adagio Slowly and slower than andante adagissimo Very, very slowly affannato, affannoso Anguished affetto or with affect (that is, with emotion) affettuoso, affettuosamente, or affectueusement (Fr.) With affect (that is, with emotion); see also con affetto Hurrying, pressing onwards agile Agile, nimble agitato Agitated al or alla To the, in the manner of (al before masculine nouns, alla before feminine) alcuna licenza Used in con alcuna licenza, meaning (play) with some freedom in the time, see rubato alla breve In cut-time; two beats per measure or the equivalent thereof alla marcia In the style of a march alla polacca In the style of a polonaise, a dance alla Siciliana In the style of a graceful Sicilian rustic dance; allargando Broadening, becoming progressively slower allegretto A little lively, moderately fast allegretto vivace A moderately quick tempo allegrezza Cheerfulness, joyfulness allegrissimo Very fast, though slower than presto allegro Cheerful or brisk; but commonly interpreted as lively, fast all'ottava "at the octave", see ottava alt (Eng.), alt dom, or altered dominant A jazz term which instructs chord-playing musicians such as a jazz pianist or jazz guitarist to perform a dominant (V7) chord with at least one (often both) altered (sharpened or flattened) 5th or 9th altissimo Very high; see also in altissimo alto High; often refers to a particular range of voice, higher than a tenor but lower than a soprano alzate sordini Lift or raise the mutes (i.e. remove mutes) am Steg (Ger.) At the bridge (i.e. playing a bowed string instrument near its bridge, which produces a heavier, stronger tone); see sul ponticello amabile Amiable, pleasant ambitus (Lat.) Range between highest and lowest note amore or amor (Sp./Port., sometimes It.) Love; con amore: with love, tenderly amoroso Loving anacrusis A note or notes that precede the first full bar; a pickup andamento A fugue subject of above-average length andante At a walking pace (i.e. at a moderate tempo) andantino Slightly faster than andante (but earlier it is sometimes used to mean slightly slower than andante) ängstlich (Ger.) Anxiously anima Soul; con anima: with feeling animandosi Progressively more animated animato, animé Animated, lively ansatz A German music term with three possible meanings. In wind instrument playing this word means embouchure. In singing this means the preparing or disposition of the vocal apparatus at the time of vocal onset for a given note or phrase. In piano playing this word means touch; usually in association to the attack of a note. antiphon A liturgical or other composition consisting of choral responses, sometimes between two choirs; a passage of this nature forming part of another composition; a repeated passage in a psalm or other liturgical piece, similar to a refrain.Collins Music Encyclopedia, 1959. antiphonal A style of composition in which two sections of singers or instrumentalists exchange sections or music one after the other; typically the performers are on different sides of a hall or venue apaisé (Fr.) Calmed appassionato Passionate appoggiatura or leaning note One or more grace notes that take up some note value of the next full note. arco The bow used for playing some string instruments (i.e. played with the bow, as opposed to pizzicato, in music for bowed instruments); normally used to cancel a pizzicato direction aria Self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment (which may be provided by a pianist using an orchestral reduction) arietta A short aria arioso Airy, or like an air (a melody) (i.e. in the manner of an aria); melodious armonioso Harmonious arpeggio, arpeggiato played like a harp (i.e. the notes of the chords are to be played quickly one after another instead of simultaneously); in music for piano, this is sometimes a solution in playing a wide-ranging chord whose notes cannot be played otherwise; arpeggios are frequently used as an accompaniment; see also broken chord articulato Articulate assai Much, very much assez (Fr.) Enough, sufficiently attacca Attack or attach; go straight on (i.e. at the end of a movement, a direction to attach the next movement to the previous one, without a gap or pause). Often used as "attacca subito," meaning a "sudden" movement transition (literally, "attack suddenly"). Ausdruck (Ger.) Expression ausdrucksvoll or mit Ausdruck (Ger.) Expressively, with expression avec (Fr.) With
B German for B flat (also in Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Icelandic, Danish, Croatian, Estonian, Hungarian and Polish); H in German is B natural (from the Italian Ballabile meaning "danceable") In ballet, a dance performed by the corps de ballet. The term Grand ballabile is used if nearly all participants (including principal characters) of a particular scene in a full-length work perform a large-scale dance. bar, or measure unit of music containing a number of beats as indicated by a time signature; also the vertical bar enclosing it Barbarous (notably used in Allegro barbaro by Béla Bartók) baritone A male vocal range that lies between the ranges of bass and tenor An instruction to string performers to play a pizzicato note to pull the string away from the fingerboard so that it snaps back percussively on the fingerboard. The lowest of the standard four voice ranges (bass, tenor, alto, soprano); the lowest melodic line in a musical composition, often thought of as defining and supporting the harmony; in an orchestral context, the term usually refers to the double bass. Continuous bass, i.e. a bass accompaniment part played continuously throughout a piece by a chordal instrument (pipe organ, harpsichord, lute, etc.), often with a bass instrument, to give harmonic structure; used especially in the Baroque period (Fr.) Used in the 17th century to refer to ornaments consisting of two adjacent notes, such as trills or mordents (Ital.) To strike the strings with the bow (on a bowed stringed instrument) Horizontal or diagonal line used to connect multiple consecutive notes
The pronounced rhythm of music One single stroke of a rhythmic accent or (Ger.) Spirited, vivacious, lively Warlike, aggressive (English cognate is "bellicose") or Well; in ben marcato ("well marked") for example In jazz, either establishing a pitch, sliding down half a step and returning to the original pitch or sliding up half a step from the original note (Ger.) Accelerated, as in mit beschleunigter Geschwindigkeit, at an accelerated tempo (Ger.) Moved, with speed A musical form in two sections: AB Slang for fermata, which instructs the performer to hold a note or chord as long as they wish or following cues from a conductor (Fr., It.) Twice (i.e. repeat the relevant action or passage) lit. "whispering"; most commonly denoting a timbral trill (a trill between two ways to play the same note with no change in pitch)