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| at, to, by, for, in, in the style of |
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| accelerating; gradually increasing the tempo |
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| ad libitum (commonly ad lib; Latin) |
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| at liberty; i.e., the speed and manner of execution are left to the performer |
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| 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 |
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| affettuoso, affettuosamente, or affectueusement (Fr.) |
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| with affect (that is, with emotion); see also "con affetto" |
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| hurrying, pressing onwards |
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| to the, in the manner of (al before masculine nouns, alla before feminine) |
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| in cut-time; two beats per measure or the equivalent thereof |
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| broadening, becoming a little slower each time |
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| at pleasure; i.e., the performer need not follow the rhythm strictly |
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| airy, or like an air (a melody); i.e., in the manner of an aria; melodious |
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| enough, sufficiently; sometimes used in the same sense as "assai" |
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| in time; i.e., the performer should return to the main tempo of the piece (after an accelerando or retardando, etc.); 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) |
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| attack, or go on; i.e., at the end of a movement, a direction to begin (attack) the next movement immediately, without a gap or pause |
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| Bb in German (and iceland); B natural is called "H" |
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| well; in "ben marcato" (well marked) for example |
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| twice; i.e., repeat the relevant action or passage |
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| boldness; as in "con bravura", boldly |
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| brilliantly, with sparkle |
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| vigour; usually in "con brio" |
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| falling away, or lowering; i.e., getting slower and quieter; "ritardando" along with diminuendo |
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| warmth; so con calore, warmly |
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| head; i.e., the beginning (of a movement, normally) |
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| capriciously, unpredictable, volatile |
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| cesura or caesura (Latin form) |
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| break, stop; i.e., a complete break in sound (sometimes nicknamed "railroad tracks" in reference to their appearance) |
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| a tail; i.e., a closing section appended to a movement |
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| a small coda, but usually applied to passage appended to a section of a movement, not to a whole movement |
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| comodo (or commonly but less correctly, commodo) |
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| comfortable; i.e., at moderate speed; also, allegro comodo, tempo comodo, etc. |
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| with; used in very many musical directions, for example "con allegrezza" (with liveliness), "con amore" (with tenderness); (see also col, colla, above) |
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| con amore, or (in Spanish and sometimes in Italian) con amor |
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| with affect (that is, with emotion) |
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| con (gran, molto) espressione |
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| with (great, much) expression |
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| with fire, in a fiery manner |
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| from the head; i.e., from the beginning |
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| D.S. al fine or dal segno al fine |
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| from the sign to the end; i.e., return to a place in the music designated by the sign and continue to the end of the piece |
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| delicatamente or delicato |
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| act of playing notes separately |
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| divided; i.e., in a part in which several musicians normally play exactly the same notes they are instead to split the playing of the written simultaneous notes among themselves. It is most often used for string instruments, since with them another means of execution is often possible. (The return from divisi is marked unisono) |
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| major; used in key signatures as, for example, A-Dur(A major) |
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| echo; an effect in which a group of notes is repeated, usually more softly, and perhaps at a different octave, to create an echo effect |
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| again; i.e., perform the relevant passage once more |
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| the end, often in phrases like al fine (to the end) |
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| strictly, exactly, e.g. tempo giusto in strict time |
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| with happy emphasis and forcefulness |
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| improvised, or as if improvised |
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| getting faster and louder |
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| broadly; i.e. slowly (same as largo) |
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| somewhat slowly; not as slow as largo |
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| very slowly; slower than largo |
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| joined; i.e., smoothly, in a connected manner |
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| very lightly and delicately; lighter than legato |
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| from a distance; distantly |
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| the same; applied to the manner of articulation, tempo, etc. |
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| long (often applied to fermatas) |
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| majestically, in a stately fashion |
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| marked; i.e., with accentuation, execute every note as if it were to be accented |
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| a march; alla marcia means in the manner of a march |
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| half; used in combinations like mezzo forte (mf), meaning moderately loud |
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| moderate; often combined with other terms, usually relating to tempo; for example, allegro moderato |
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| minor; used in key signatures as, for example, a-moll (A minor) |
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| dying; i.e., dying away in dynamics, and perhaps also in tempo |
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| moved, moving; used with a preceding piu or meno, for faster or slower respectively |
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| motion; usually seen as con moto, meaning with motion or quickly |
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| nothing, barely audible, dying away |
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| or instead; i.e., according to some specified alternative way of performing a passage, which is marked with a footnote, additional small notes, or an additional staff |
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| actave; e.g., ottava bassa: an octave lower |
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| in a pastoral style, peaceful and simple |
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| dying away; decrease in dynamics, perhaps also in tempo |
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| then, indicating a subsequent instruction in a sequence, for example getting softer "then" suddenly very loud |
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| the first time; for example prima volta senza accompagnamento (the first time without accompaniment) |
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| quasi (Latin and Italian) |
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| as if, almost, e.g. quasi recitativo like a recitative in an opera |
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| broadening of the tempo (often not discernible from ritardando); progressively slower |
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| hold back; same as the Italian ritenuto |
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| reinforced;i.e., emphasized; sometimes like a sudden crescendo, but often applied to a single note |
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| ritardando, ritard., rit. |
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| slowing down; decelerating; opposite of accelerando |
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| suddenly slower, held back (usually more so but more temporarily than a ritardando, and it may, unlike ritardando, apply to a single note) |
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| robbed; i.e., flexible in tempo, applied to notes within a musical phrase for expressive effect |
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| to drag; usually nicht schleppen (don't drag), paired with nicht eilen (don't hurry) in Gustav Mahler's scores |
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| lively, swinging, bold, spirited |
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| sign, usually Dal Segno "from the sign" |
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| carry on to the next section without a pause |
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| made loud; i.e., a sudden strong accent |
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| silence; i.e., without reverberations |
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| similarly; i.e., continue applying the preceding directive, whatever it was, to the following passage |
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| extinguishing or dampening; usually interpreted as a drop in dynamics, and very often in tempo as well |
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| in an undertone i.e. quietly |
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| tightening, narrowing; i.e., with a pressing forward or acceleration of the tempo (that is, becoming stretto) |
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| tempo primo, tempo uno, or tempo I |
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| resume the original speed |
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| means "robbed time"; an expressive way of performing a rhythm; see rubato |
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| held; i.e., touch on a note slightly longer than usual, but without generally altering the note's value |
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| too much; usually seen as non troppo, meaning moderately or, when combined with other terms, not too much, such as allegro (ma) non troppo (fast but not too fast) |
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| one, as for example in the following entries |
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| as quickly as possible; usually applied to a cadenza-like passage or run |
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| turn suddenly; i.e., turn the page quickly. While this indication is sometimes added by printers, it is more commonly indicated by orchestral members in pencil as a reminder to quickly turn to the next page. |
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