Glossary of music terminology
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
; 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
A
; a or à : at, to, by, for, in; à la : in the style of...
; a battuta : Return to normal tempo after a deviation. Not recommended in string parts, due to possible confusion with battuto ; 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 : 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
; a prima vista : lit. "at first sight". Sight-reading
; a tempo : In time ; also may be found in combination with other terms such as a tempo giusto or a tempo di menuetto
; ab : off, organ stops or mutes
; abafando : muffled, muted
; abandon or avec : free, unrestrained, passionate
; abbandonatamente, con abbandono : freely, in relaxed mode
; aber : but
; accarezzevole : Expressive and caressing
; : 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
; accidental: A note that is not part of the scale indicated by the key signature.
; : Accompanied
; accuratezza : Precision; accuracy. con accuratezza: with precision
; acoustic : Relating to music produced by instruments, as opposed to electric or electronic means
; ad libitum : At liberty
; adagietto : Fairly slowly
; adagio : Slowly
; adagissimo : Very, very slowly
; affannato, affannoso : Anguished
; affetto or : with affect
; affettuoso, affettuosamente, or affectueusement : With affect ; see also con affetto
; : Hurrying, pressing onwards
; agile : Agile, nimble
; agitato : Agitated
; al or alla : To the, in the manner of
; alcuna licenza : Used in con alcuna licenza, meaning 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, 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 chord with at least one altered 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
; am Steg : At the bridge ; see sul ponticello
; amabile : Amiable, pleasant
; ambitus : Range between highest and lowest note
; amore or amor : 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
; andantino : Slightly faster than andante
; ängstlich : Anxiously
; anima : Soul; con anima: with feeling
; animandosi : Progressively more animated
; animato, animé : 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; a repeated passage in a psalm or other liturgical piece, similar to a refrain.
; 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 : 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 ; normally used to cancel a pizzicato direction
; aria : Self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment
; arietta : A short aria
; arioso : Airy, or like an air ; melodious
; armonioso : Harmonious
; [|arpeggio], arpeggiato: played like a harp ; 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 : Enough, sufficiently
;attacca :Attack or attach; go straight on. Often used as "attacca subito," meaning a "sudden" movement transition.
; Ausdruck : Expression
; ausdrucksvoll or mit Ausdruck : Expressively, with expression
; avec : With
B
; : German for B flat ; H in German is B natural; : In ballet, a dance performed by the corps de ballet. The term Grand ballabile is used if nearly all participants 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
; 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 ; 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, often with a bass instrument, to give harmonic structure; used especially in the Baroque period
; : Used in the 17th century to refer to ornaments consisting of two adjacent notes, such as trills or mordents
; : To strike the strings with the bow
; : Horizontal or diagonal line used to connect multiple consecutive notes
; :
- The pronounced rhythm of music
- One single stroke of a rhythmic accent
; : Warlike, aggressive
; or : Well; in ben marcato 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
; : Accelerated, as in mit beschleunigter Geschwindigkeit, at an accelerated tempo
; : 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
; : Twice
; : Whispering
; : with closed mouth
; : Boldness; as in con bravura, boldly, flaunting technical skill
; : Broad
; :
- Transitional passage connecting two sections of a composition, or between two A sections.
- Part of a violin family or guitar/lute stringed instrument that holds the strings in place and transmits their vibrations to the resonant body of the instrument.
; or : Vigour; usually in con brio: with spirit or vigour
; : 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, which as an accompaniment pattern may be seen as a kind of broken chord; see Alberti bass.
; : Brusquely, suddenly