Musical
terminology
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
a
Italian
etymology, reinforcing the heritage of much music originating from Italy. In different
countries, the terms you see below may be written in the language of that country.
Terms
- The term accelerando
is a directive for the musician to gradually increase the tempo.
- Adagio - slow.
- Adagietto - rather slow.
- Adagissimo - very slow
- Ad libitium the
speed and manner are left to the performer, ad lib.
- Affrettando
- hurrying, pressing onwards.
- Agitato - agitated.
- Alla
Breve - indicates two minims in a bar, formerly four.
- The term
appassionato (from Italian) tells the performer to play (or sing)
passionately.
- In Italian, arpeggio literally means like
a harp. It is used to indicate
that the consecutive notes of a certain chord
are to be played quickly one after another, instead of at the same moment. In
piano music
this is sometimes a solution used to play a wide-ranged chord which, technically
speaking, cannot be played simultaneously with one hand. Music played on the limited
hardware of video game
computers uses a similar technique to create a chord from one tone generator.
- Common time is the time
signature 4/4: four beats per measure, each beat a quarter
note. 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.
- The directive crescendo is for the musician to
play gradually louder than previously. Cf. diminuendo, dynamics
(music).
- Cut time is synonymous to the meter
2/2: two half-note beats per measure. This is notated and played like common
time (4/4), except with the note lengths halved. Cut time is denoted by 3/4
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. A measure has only two beats. The
other common meter with two-beat measures is fast 6/8, in which note lengths are
2/3 their normal values.
- The term diminuendo (or dim.),
is an indication for the musician to play with gradually decreasing volume. It
is the opposite of crescendo.
- Dolce is Italian for
"sweet", and tells the performer to sing (or play) sweetly.
- Dynamics
refers to the relative volume of the musician playing the work. See dynamics
(music).
- The term forte, or just the notation f,
is a directive for the musician to play loudly. The term fortissimo,
ff, is similar - the musician is to play very loudly. See dynamics
(music).
- Glissando is 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.
- A mezzo-soprano is 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 daker vocal tone than sopranos,
and their vocal range is between that of a soprano
and that of an alto.
See mezzo-soprano
for further information.
- The indication piano, or the notation
p, is an directive for the musician to play softly. The related term
pianissimo, pp, directs the musician to play very softly.
- The indication or term staccato means to play with a sharp attack,
and briefly. In music
notation a small dot under the note indicates that the note is to be sounded
staccato. See staccato.
- The directive smorzando (or smorz.) is a directive
for the musician to smother the notes.
- The indication or term tenuto
(Italian held), is to touch on a note slightly longer than usual, but
without generally altering the note's value.
- Tremolo can
mean a rapid repetition of the same note, or an alternation between two or more
notes. It can also mean a rapid and repetitive variation in pitch for the duration
of a note. See tremolo for
further information. It is notated by a diagonal bar across the note stem or a
detached bar for a set of notes.
- The directive una corda (Italian one cord), is a directive
in piano music for the musician
to depress the soft pedal, reducing the volume of the sound. Its counterpart,
tre corda is the opposite - the soft pedal is to be released.
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