| Term | Definition |
|---|
| p- piano | soft |
| f-forte | loud |
| >- accent | play louder, stressed, marked |
| (- slur | a curved line that indicates legato- to play smoothly |
| .- staccato | not connected, crisp |
| )- tie | a curved line connecting notes of the same pitch - hold for full value of both notes |
| repeat sign | plat the music again |
| dynamics | symbols or terms that indicate loud or soft |
| fine | the end |
| D.C. al fine | return to the beginning and play to fine |
| fermata | hold longer |
| rit., ritard., ritardanto | gradually slower |
| a tempo | return to the original tempo |
| crescendo | gradually louder |
| decrescendo, diminuendo | gradually softer |
| mp- mezzo piano | medium soft |
| mf- mezzo forte | medium loud |
| pp- pianissimo | very soft |
| ff- fortissimo | very loud |
| _- tenuto | hold for full value, stress |
| damper pedal | pedal on the right |
| allegro | fast, quick |
| andante | walking tempo |
| moderato | moderate tempo |
| vivace | quickly, lively |
| ppp- pianississimo | very, very soft |
| fff- fortississimo | very, very loud |
| sf, sfz, fz- sforzando | s sudden, sharp accent |
| sequence | repeating a melodic pattern at a higher or lower pitch |
| cadence | the chords that end a phrase or section of a composition |
| authentic cadence | V-I |
| half cadence | -V |
| plagal cadence | IV-I |
| adagio | slow tempo, slower than andante |
| spiritoso | spirited |
| accelerando (accel.) | gradually faster, accelerate tempo |
| dolce | sweetly |
| molto | much, very |
| poco | little |
| una corda | apply the soft pedal |
| tre corde | release the soft pedal |
| relative keys | major and minor keys sharing the same key signature |
| motif/motive | a short musical idea |
| andantino | a little faster than andante |
| allegretto | a little slower than allegro |
| presto | very fast tempo |
| cantabile | in a singing voice |
| espressivo | expressively |
| leggiero | lightly |
| subito | suddenly |
| ---etto | little |
| ---ino | little |
| articulation | various ways of executing the notes |
| trill | starts from note above |
| parallel major and minor | keys sharing the same tonic tone |
| transposition | playing a piece in a different key |
| meter | the arrangements of beats into groups of equal size and with regular recurring accents |
| imitation | a motive played in the other hand |
| animato | animated, with spirit |
| con | with |
| con brio | with brilliance |
| con moto | with motion |
| largo | large |
| tranquillo | tranquilly |
| vivo | lively |
| arpeggio | continuous broken chord |
| ostinato | a short musical pattern repeated throughout a composition |
| enharmonic | same note with different names |
| mordent | start on note, goes down one and then comes back |
| appoggiatura | first note faster |
| turn | start note above, lasts four notes |
| doloroso | sadly |
| marcato | marked |
| robusto | robustly |
| scherzando | jokingly |
| simile | similarly |
| sostenuto | sustained |
| fp- forte piano | loud followed immediately by soft |
| syncopation | a contradiction of a meter or pulse |
| opus | composer's work in chronological order |
| deceptive cadence | ending in vi |
| modulation | transposition within a pice |
| allargando | gradually slower |
| con fuoco | with fire |
| meno | less |
| meno mosso | slower |
| piu | more |
| piu mosso | quicker |
| pesante | heavily |
| rallentando | gradually slower |
| ritenuto | immediately slower |
| senza | without |
| sempre | always |
| giocoso | jokingly |
| grazioso | gracefully |
| lento | slow |
| canon | each voice exactly imitates the melody of the first vioce |
| Exposition | two themes, one dominant other tonic, are exposed |
| Development | both themes develop |
| recapitulation | both themes in tonic |
| Ionian mode | C-C |
| Dorian mode | D-D |
| Mixolydian mode | G-G |
| Aeolian mode | A-A |
Combine with other sets
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