À
FrenchGeneral
To, at; as in "à l’aise" (at ease).
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1760 terms in Italian, German, French, English, Latin, and Greek — the directions, abbreviations and instrument names printed in scores, with definitions focused on how composers use them in practice.
To, at; as in "à l’aise" (at ease).
Return to strict beat after a free passage.
In chapel style: voices alone, without instrumental accompaniment.
At the performer’s whim; free in tempo and manner.
For two — in wind parts, both players play the same line (returning from a divided passage). Can also mean "for two players."
Printed as: a 2, a2
At ease, unforced.
Slightly; softens the direction that follows.
At half voice: softly, with a veiled, held-back tone. The French counterpart of mezza voce.
Aside; sung or spoken to oneself, not to the others on stage.
At pleasure: the performer may choose the pace and freedom.
For four: four instruments of the same kind play one line together (or, after div. in a string part, the section divides in four).
Printed as: a 4, a4, a.4.
At one’s own pleasure.
Return to the tempo in force before a deviation (ritardando, accelerando, ritenuto, rubato, a fermata) — not necessarily the opening tempo, which Tempo primo restores.
For three: the passage is played by three instruments of the same kind (or divided in three).
Printed as: a 3, a3, a.3., a. 3
On the A string.
Abandon; unrestrained, free feeling (con abbandono).
To damp.
But; joins a direction with its qualification.
Decreasing.
Alternating — between instruments (a player who doubles) or between players or hands sharing a passage.
Caressing, in a coaxing manner.
Gradually getting faster. Abbreviated accel.
Printed as: accel., accell., accel
A stress on a single note or chord, usually marked with the > sign over or under the note; the stronger ^ (marcato) and the letters sf or fz ask for more.
Accented.
Accent the melody.
A "crushing" grace note — an extremely short ornamental note played almost simultaneously with the main note and immediately released.
Accompanied: recitative supported by the orchestra, not just by continuo.
Increase, growth (con accrescimento: with growing intensity).
At liberty — the performer may vary the tempo, add ornamentation, or omit the passage entirely. Abbreviated ad lib.
Printed as: ad lib., ad lib, ad libit.
Slightly faster than Adagio, or a brief Adagio movement. Typically 72–76 BPM.
Slow and stately, literally "at ease." Typically 66–76 BPM.
Very slow.
Slow, in a singing style.
Slow and expressive.
Slow, but not too slow.
Slow and majestic.
Very slow.
Very slow and songlike.
Slow, but not excessively.
Slow and sustained.
Breathless, anxious: as if panting with agitation or distress.
Tenderly, with warm feeling. In 18th-century headings it also implied an unhurried, rather slow tempo.
Hurrying; pressing the tempo forward with a sense of urgency.
Printed as: affrett.
Agitated, restless — with anxious, troubled energy.
Agitated.
To the, at the; as in al segno, al fine. As alla it also means “in the manner of”: alla marcia, alla turca.
To the end: in D.C. al Fine or D.S. al Fine, play as far as the word Fine; in running directions (rall. al fine, sin al fine) it means until the end of the piece.
To nothing: fade completely to silence.
To the sign: in D.C. al segno, go back to the beginning and play as far as the segno sign; printed alone, an instruction to go to the sign. Not to be confused with dal segno, “from the sign”.
At the frog (heel) of the bow.
A broken chord accompaniment pattern where the notes of a chord are played in the order: lowest, highest, middle, highest. Named after Domenico Alberti.
At the octave: play the notes an octave higher (or lower) than written for the length of the line.
Printed as: 8va, 8va., 8va ---, all’8va
Cut time — the half note gets the beat instead of the quarter note. Equivalent to 2/2 time. Marked with the symbol ¢.
At the tip of the bow.
Broadening — getting slower and usually louder simultaneously.
Printed as: allarg., allarg
All.
Cheerfully, merrily.
Moderately fast, a little slower than Allegro. Typically 112–120 BPM.
Moderately quick, with grace.
Moderately quick with movement.
Moderately quick and graceful.
Moderately quick, at a measured pace.
Moderately quick and playful.
Moderately quick and calm.
Moderately quick and lively.
Fast, lively, and bright. Typically 120–156 BPM. Literally means "cheerful."
Fast and agitated.
Fast and impassioned.
Very fast (assai means "very" in this sense).
Fast but comfortable.
Fast with vigour and spirit.
Fast with fire.
Fast with movement, a flowing fast pace.
Fast with spirit.
Fast and decided.
Very fast: allegro intensified by di molto (“very much”). The same as Allegro molto.
Fast and energetic.
Fast and furious.
Fast and playful.
Fast, at an exact, well-judged pace.
Fast, but not too fast.
Fast but majestic.
Moderately fast.
Printed as: Allegro mod.
Very fast.
Very fast and with vigour.
Very fast and lively.
Very fast and lively.
Fast, but not so much so.
Fast, but not overly.
Fast and resolute.
Fast and playful.
Fast but calm.
Fast and lively.
Fast and spirited.
Gradually.
One player only.
Alto voice (German spelling).
Printed as: A.
Alternating: verses shared between two bodies, for example choir and organ.
Alto flute.
Printed as: Altfl.
Viola, in French: the word alto names the instrument, not only the voice.
Alto flute (English name).
Printed as: A. Fl., Alto Fl.
Alto trombone (English name).
Printed as: A. Tbn.
Alto trombone (German name).
The alto voice part of an early part-book set.
Keep up the direction throughout; the English counterpart of sempre.
Raise the mutes: take the mutes off. The same instruction as via sordini or senza sordini.
At the fingerboard — the German equivalent of sul tasto.
At the bridge — the German equivalent of sul ponticello.
Lovable, sweetly, agreeably.
Anvil.
Lovingly, tenderly.
An upbeat — one or more notes that precede the first downbeat of a phrase. The Greek/English equivalent of Auftakt.
Still, yet, even more, as in ancora più forte; also “again”, as in ancora una volta (once more).
Joins two directions.
At a walking pace, typically 76–108 BPM. From "andare" (to walk).
At a walking pace, in a singing style.
Walking pace, as before.
At a walking pace, with expression.
At a walking pace, with movement.
At a walking pace, expressively.
At a walking pace, steady and exact.
At a walking pace, gracefully.
Andante, but not too much so. Because andante literally means “going”, readers differ on whether it warns against too slow a pace or too flowing a one; context and any metronome mark decide.
At a walking pace, with majesty.
At a moderate walking pace.
A moving walking pace, with some forward drive.
At a walking pace, devotionally.
At a walking pace, sustained.
At a walking pace, calmly.
Slightly faster than Andante (though historically debated — some composers used it to mean slightly slower).
Slightly quicker than andante, with movement.
Gently moving and graceful.
Andantino, nearly allegretto in pace.
Beginning.
Becoming more animated, usually with a slight quickening.
Animated, with life; a push forward in character and usually in pace.
Animated, lively — with spirit and energy.
Animate: quicken and enliven the tempo.
Quicken a little.
Swelling.
The imitation of the fugue subject by the second voice, typically at the fifth above (dominant). A "real" answer is exact transposition; a "tonal" answer adjusts intervals to stay within the key.
Anvil.
Growing.
Open; the opposite of closed or muted.
Passionately — with intense, burning emotion. The feminine appassionata is familiar from the nickname of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata Op. 57.
A "leaning note" — an accented dissonance that resolves stepwise (usually downward) to a consonance. Unlike a suspension, it is approached by leap.
Harsh, rough.
Bow.
The string section as a group.
With the bow — the normal playing method for string instruments. Written after a pizzicato passage to indicate return to bowing.
Ardent.
Ardent, burning; with fervour.
A self-contained song for a solo voice in an opera, oratorio, or cantata — usually expressing a character's emotions at a particular dramatic moment.
Songlike, in the manner of an aria. Also a noun: a short lyrical passage in measured time, between recitative and aria in character.
Harmonics: the flute-like overtones produced by lightly touching a string.
Harmoniously, in a blended and smooth manner.
Harp.
Printed as: Arp.
Arpeggiate: spread the chord from the lowest note upward instead of striking its notes together.
Broken, played as an arpeggio.
Notes of a chord played one after another instead of together.
Printed as: arp.
Repeat the manner or tempo given earlier.
Very: Allegro assai = very fast. Generally read as equivalent to molto, though some writers have taken it in its older sense of “enough, rather”.
Fairly, rather ("assez lent").
Fairly animated.
Fairly slow.
Fairly lively.
Fairly fast.
Breath pause.
To breathe; a place to take breath.
Proceed immediately to the next movement without pause.
Go straight to the next movement.
Go on at once, without a pause, to the next movement.
Wait.
To the, at the ("au mouvement").
Back to the tempo.
Printed as: Au mouvt., Au mouv.
At the frog: play with the part of the bow nearest the hand, for weight and bite.
In tempo.
Above.
Excited, agitated.
Upbeat or anacrusis — one or more notes before the first full bar, leading into the downbeat.
Stating a theme in longer note values (e.g., doubling all durations), making it slower and grander.
A chromatic chord containing the interval of an augmented sixth, which resolves outward to an octave. Three types: Italian (It+6), French (Fr+6), German (Ger+6).
Expression. "Mit Ausdruck" = with expression. Common in German Romantic scores.
Full of expression.
Extremely calm.
A cadence moving from dominant to tonic (V–I). "Perfect" authentic cadence has root-position chords with the melody ending on the tonic.
With; the counterpart of con.
With abandon.
With charm.
With coquetry.
With emotion.
With fire.
With gravity.
With the bow.
With passion.
With pedal.
With mute; in French piano music, with the soft pedal (una corda).
With tenderness.
Wooden sticks.
Printed as: bacch. di legno
Sponge-headed sticks.
Printed as: bacch. di spugna
Timpani sticks.
Sponge-headed sticks.
Wooden sticks.
Timpani sticks.
Band: a wind and percussion band separate from the orchestra — in Italian opera usually on or behind the stage, and in some concert works an extra military band.
Baritone voice.
Printed as: Bar.
Bass clarinet (English name).
Printed as: B. Cl., Bass Cl.
Bass drum.
Printed as: B. Dr., B.D.
Bass flute: the flute in C an octave below the concert flute. In older English scores (Holst’s The Planets) bass flute means the flute in G, today’s alto flute.
Printed as: B. Fl., Bass Fl.
Bass trombone (English name).
Printed as: B. Tbn.
Bass: the bass voice in French vocal and choral scores; also the bass line or lowest part of a texture (la basse en dehors, basse continue).
The double bass section in an orchestral score; in a choral score, the bass voices.
Printed as: Bs.
Basset horn.
Bass flute.
Printed as: Bassfl.
Bass clarinet.
Printed as: Bkl., Bassklar., Basskl.
Bass: the bass voice or the lowest string/continuo line, depending on context.
Printed as: B., Bs.
The continuous bass line and its harmonic realization that form the foundation of Baroque ensemble music. Typically performed by a keyboard instrument (harpsichord, organ) and a bass instrument (cello, bassoon).
Bassoon (French name).
Printed as: Bon, Bons
Bassoon (English name).
Printed as: Bsn., Bn., Bsn
Bass trombone (German name).
The bass voice part of an early part-book set.
Much, a great deal.
Much slower.
Cymbals.
Printed as: Beck.
Suspended cymbal.
Speeding up little by little.
Considerably, markedly; "bedeutend langsamer" is "much slower".
Considerably slower.
Both.
Animated, brought to life.
More animated.
Raise the instrument’s bell.
Bells: in British and European scores usually tubular bells (chimes) or real bells; in American usage, orchestral bells means the glockenspiel — the score’s instrument list decides.
Well sung; with a good singing tone.
Very expressively, with the expression fully brought out (ben = well, thoroughly).
Printed as: ben espress.
Well joined; smoothly connected.
Well marked: each note clearly emphasised.
Printed as: ben marc.
Well moderated: a steady moderate pace.
Very calm.
Calming: growing calmer, usually with an easing of tempo (sich beruhigend, calming down).
Accelerating.
Accelerated.
Decisively.
Stressed, accented.
Moving, animated. Implies moderate-to-fast tempo with forward momentum.
More animated: with more motion, a little faster.
Well marked.
Well rhythmed: with the rhythm clearly marked.
A two-part form (AB) where each section is typically repeated. The A section moves to the dominant; B returns to the tonic.
Twice: repeat the passage.
The brass as a group.
Wood block.
Mouth closed: humming.
Bow. As a direction (Bogen, mit dem Bogen) it means play with the bow, cancelling pizzicato like arco; in German notation terminology Bogen also names a slur or tie.
The woodwinds as a group.
Noisily and with high spirits.
Both players of a pair.
Stopped — in horn playing, inserting the hand fully into the bell to produce a muted, nasal, metallic tone. The French equivalent of "gestopft."
Printed as: +
The bow of a string instrument; also the "arco" return after pizzicato.
The brass section as a group.
Viola (German name).
Printed as: Br., Bratsch.
Virtuosity; demonstrative, daring display (often con bravura).
Take a breath here.
Broad.
Broad bow strokes.
Broader.
Broad bow stroke.
Brilliant.
Sparkling, showy; bright in tone and bravura in style.
Vigour, spirit; the noun behind con brio.
Spirited, with vigour; a close cousin of con brio.
Wire brushes used on the drum.
German name for the valved bugle family (Bügelhörner); the soprano member, the flugelhorn, is usually printed Flügelhorn.
In French scores, the valved bugle — the flugelhorn (bugle en si♭) and its saxhorn relatives; the valveless military bugle is the clairon. In English, bugle means the valveless military instrument.
On the C string.
A harmonic formula that ends a phrase, section, or piece. The musical equivalent of punctuation.
An extended solo passage, usually near the end of a concerto movement, where the soloist plays alone in a virtuosic, often improvised or quasi-improvised style.
A cadenza left to the soloist’s invention.
Snare drum (French name).
Printed as: C. cl., Caisse cl.
Tenor drum (French name).
Printed as: C. roul.
Dying away — getting both slower and softer simultaneously.
Printed as: cal.
Calmed; quieter and more settled.
Calm.
Calm.
Warmth.
Warmly.
Bell in the air: wind and brass raise the bell of the instrument for volume.
Cowbells.
Tubular bells (chimes).
Glockenspiel (orchestral bells), in Italian scores.
Printed as: Camp.
A contrapuntal technique where a melody is imitated exactly by one or more voices entering at staggered time intervals.
In a singing style — melodically, with a vocal quality.
Printed as: cant., cantab.
Singing; the line should be played in a songlike way.
The highest voice of an early part-book set.
A fixed melody against which other voices are written in counterpoint exercises. Literally "fixed song."
Capriciously: freely and whimsically, with playful, unpredictable turns of pace and mood.
Capricious, whimsical; free and unpredictable.
Caressing.
Castanets.
Printed as: Cast.
Castanets.
Printed as: Cast.
Yield, give way — slow down slightly. The French equivalent of ritardando.
Swift, rapid; a rarer synonym of veloce.
Celesta: a keyboard instrument whose hammers strike steel bars over wooden resonators, giving a soft, bell-like tone; it sounds an octave above written pitch.
Printed as: Cel., Cel
The cello section.
Printed as: Vcs.
Harpsichord.
Printed as: Cemb.
Continuous variations over a repeating harmonic progression (rather than a specific bass line). Often confused with passacaglia.
Switch to another instrument, tuning or pedal setting.
Song, melody; also the vocal line.
Sung; played in a songlike manner.
Clear, bright in tone.
Guitar.
Closed; stopped horn tone with the hand in the bell.
Chorus, choir.
The choir division of an organ (Ch.); as a staff label, the singers of a choral score.
Printed as: Ch.
Chorus (German name).
A group of singers, or the refrain of a song.
Harmony that uses notes outside the prevailing diatonic scale — chromatic alterations, borrowed chords, secondary dominants, and enharmonic reinterpretation.
One of the scale-types that organized Western music before the major/minor system — each built on its own home note (the final) with its own pattern of whole and half steps. The Renaissance worked chiefly in Dorian (final D), Phrygian (E), Lydian (F), Mixolydian (G), and Aeolian (A), with Ionian (C) the ancestor of the modern major scale. A church mode is not a major scale rotated for color: it has no leading tone by default, so its cadences and pulls behave on their own terms, and accidentals are added by the singer (musica ficta) rather than fixed by a key signature.
Clear, bright.
Clarinet (English name).
Printed as: Cl., Clar.
Clarinet (French name).
Printed as: Cl., Clar., Clar
Bass clarinet (French name).
Printed as: Cl. b., Cl. basse, Clar. b.
Clarinet.
Printed as: Cl., Clar., Clar, Cl
Bass clarinet.
Printed as: Cl. b., Cl. basso
Contrabass clarinet.
Small (E-flat or D) clarinet.
Printed as: Cl. picc., Cl. piccolo
The high register of the Baroque natural trumpet, and the trumpet played in it; in Classical scores (Haydn, Mozart) Clarino or Clarini often simply labels the trumpet staff.
Printed as: Clno.
Harpsichord (French name).
Printed as: Clav.
The point of highest intensity in a phrase, section or movement.
Bells: in orchestral scores, tubular bells or actual church bells.
A concluding section added after the main structural form is complete. Literally "tail."
A small coda — a brief concluding passage at the end of an exposition or other section.
With the (con + il); as in col legno, colla parte.
With the bow; returning to bowing after pizzicato.
With the singing; the accompaniment follows the singer.
With the wood — striking or bouncing the wooden stick of the bow on the strings.
Strike the string with the wood of the bow.
Draw the wood of the bow across the string.
With the right hand.
With the part: the accompaniment follows the soloist’s tempo.
With the left hand.
With the voice: the accompaniment follows the singer’s tempo.
As, like; as in "come prima", "come sopra".
As at the beginning.
As before: return to the earlier tempo, character or manner.
As above: repeat the manner or style stated earlier.
As, like; as in "comme un écho" (like an echo).
With. The most common prefix in Italian musical directions: con sordino, con fuoco, con brio, con anima, con moto.
With feeling and affection.
With agitation.
With love; with devoted warmth.
With soul, with feeling — deeply expressive.
With spirit, vigorously — implies both energy and brilliance.
With warmth.
With delicacy.
With delight.
With sweetness and softness.
With sorrow.
With both pedals.
With elegance.
With energy.
With emphasis.
With expansiveness: a broad, outpouring manner.
With expression.
Printed as: con espress., con espr.
With firmness.
With force.
With fire — passionately, with fierce energy.
With fury: wildly and violently.
With great force.
With gravity.
With grace.
With taste, with relish.
With impetuosity and sudden force.
With the deepest inward feeling.
With anger.
With tears, tearfully.
With luminosity: bright, radiant tone.
With melancholy.
With much expression.
With motion — indicating forward momentum, slightly faster than the base tempo.
Doubled with the octave.
Printed as: coll’8va, coll'8va, con 8va
With passion.
With pedal.
Printed as: con Ped., col Ped., sempre Ped., sempre con Pedale
With rage.
With simplicity.
With feeling.
With dash and élan.
With mute: on strings and brass, a mute veils the tone. In piano music the word refers to the pedals — Beethoven’s senza sordini means dampers raised, and later composers’ con sordina asks for the soft pedal.
Printed as: con sord., con sord
With wire brushes.
With spirit and verve.
With extravagance: wildly and fantastically, with free and bizarre abandon.
With noise and clamour.
With a damped, muted sound: the tone held back (Mahler’s Italian for mit verhaltener Stimme, ‘with restrained voice’).
With tenderness.
With all one’s strength.
With vigour.
With desire, with eagerness.
The pitch that actually sounds, as opposed to the transposed pitch written for a transposing instrument. Also the standard tuning reference, today usually A = 440 Hz.
In the manner of a concerto: with one or more instruments featured against the rest.
The small group of soloists in a concerto grosso; also the title of a short, often one-movement concerto.
Confident.
Restrained, contained.
Continue the singing line.
Continuo: the bass line of Baroque music and the group that plays it — a chord instrument realising the figured bass with a melodic bass instrument; in later directions also an adjective, “continuing”.
Printed as: Cont., Cont, B.c.
Contrabassoon (English name).
Printed as: Cbsn., C. Bsn.
Double bass (contrabass): the lowest bowed string instrument of the orchestra.
Printed as: Cb., C.B., Cb, Cbs.
Contrabassoon: the bassoon sounding an octave lower.
Printed as: Cfg., Cfag., C. fag., Contrafag., Contrafg.
Contralto: the lowest female voice; in Italian-labelled choral scores also the name of the alto part (Contralto, Alto).
Printed as: A.
Two voices moving in opposite directions — the strongest way to maintain voice independence.
Double bass (French name).
Printed as: C.B.
Contrabassoon (French name).
Covered; muffled drum tone.
Horn (French name).
English horn (French name).
Printed as: C. A., C.A., C. angl., Cor angl., Cor ang.
String. On piano scores it appears in una corda (soft pedal down) and tre corde or tutte le corde (soft pedal released); in string parts, as in IV corda or sulla quarta corda, it names the string to play on.
The string section.
Cornet (English name).
Printed as: Cnt., Cnt
Cornet (valved cornet).
Printed as: C. à p., Pist.
Cornet.
Printed as: Cnt.
Cornett: the renaissance and early baroque lip-reed instrument with finger holes.
Horn (French horn). The Italian name; the same instrument is Cor in French and Horn in German and English.
Printed as: Cor., Cr., Cor
Basset horn: a narrow-bored clarinet in F with extra low keys, sounding a fifth below written; scored by Mozart (Requiem, Gran Partita) and later by Richard Strauss.
Printed as: C. di bass., Cor. di bass.
English horn (cor anglais): the alto oboe.
Printed as: C. ing., C. ingl., Cor. ingl.
Chorus.
Crown; the Italian name for the fermata sign.
The art of combining two or more independent melodic lines simultaneously. From the Latin "punctus contra punctum" (point against point, note against note).
A recurring melodic line that accompanies the fugue subject in counterpoint, typically appearing whenever the subject or answer enters.
Verse; stanza or episode between refrains.
Cowbells.
Ratchet.
Gradually getting louder. Abbreviated cresc. or shown as a hairpin (<).
Printed as: cresc., cres., cresc, cres
Getting louder while slowing.
Printed as: cresc. e rit.
Getting louder and faster together.
Printed as: cresc. ed accel., cresc. e accel., accel. e cresc.
Getting louder a great deal.
Printed as: cresc. molto, molto cresc.
Build toward a stated dynamic or point.
Crotales: small tuned bronze discs struck or bowed.
A small-note passage showing another player’s entry.
Brassy: a forced, blaring tone on brass (and horn) that rings out harshly.
The brass as a group.
Cymbals (French name).
Printed as: Cymb.
Cymbals (English name).
Printed as: Cym., Cymb.
On the D string.
From; as in da capo.
From the beginning — return to the start and play again until the "fine" marking. Abbreviated D.C.
Printed as: D.C., D. C.
From the beginning to the sign for the coda, then skip to the coda.
Printed as: D.C. al Coda
From the beginning to the word Fine.
Printed as: D.C. al Fine, D.C. al fine, D. C. al Fine
From afar; as if from a distance.
From nothing: let the sound emerge out of silence, beginning inaudibly and growing from there.
From the sign — return to the segno mark and play from there. Abbreviated D.S.
Printed as: D.S., D. S.
From the sign to the coda sign, then skip to the coda.
Printed as: D.S. al Coda
From the sign to the word Fine.
Printed as: D.S. al Fine, D.S. al fine
Stop the vibration of the instrument.
Mute.
Printed as: Dpf.
Mutes off.
Take off the mutes.
Mutes on.
Of, from; as in "de plus en plus" (more and more).
Beginning; used in directions that refer back to the opening, such as “comme au début” (as at the beginning) or “plus lent qu’au début” (slower than at the beginning), usually meaning its tempo or character.
A cadence where the dominant resolves to an unexpected chord (usually vi instead of I), "deceiving" the listener's expectation.
Decided, firm and resolute.
Declaiming, speaking out in a rhetorical manner.
Declaimed.
Gradually getting softer. Abbreviated decresc. or shown as a hairpin (>).
Printed as: decresc., decresc, decres.
Getting softer a great deal.
Printed as: decresc. molto, molto decresc.
Delicately.
Delicately.
Extremely delicate.
Delicate.
A shared music stand holding two string players; "2 desks" asks for two such pairs.
Detached; separate bow strokes without gaps.
Separated; each note apart.
Clearly, distinctly.
The middle section of sonata form where themes from the exposition are fragmented, transformed, reharmonized, and explored through modulation.
Of; joins words in Italian phrases such as "tempo di marcia".
Behind the scenes: played or sung offstage.
Vanishing; fading out of hearing.
Gradually getting softer. Abbreviated dim. Synonymous with decrescendo.
Printed as: dim., dimin., dim, dimin
Getting softer while slowing.
Printed as: dim. e rit., rit. e dim., rit. dim., dim. rit., dim. e rall., rall. e dim.
Getting softer a great deal.
Printed as: dim. molto, molto dim.
Stating a theme in shorter note values (e.g., halving all durations), making it faster and more energetic.
Discreetly.
Desperate.
A combination of pitches that sounds unstable and calls for resolution.
The section splits into separate parts.
Printed as: div.
A section divided — string players at the same desk play different notes instead of playing in unison. Abbreviated div.
Printed as: div., div
Devout.
Keep the pulse moving.
Keep the pulse steady.
Yet, still, nonetheless; softens a contrast.
Sweetly, gently — with a tender, soft character.
Printed as: dol.
Sweet and songlike.
Sweet and very smoothly joined.
Sweetly and expressively.
Printed as: dolce espress., dolce ed espress., espress. dolce
Sweetly but with each note clearly marked.
Printed as: dolce marc.
Sweetly, in a pastoral manner.
Sweetly, softly.
Very sweetly — the superlative of dolce.
Printed as: dolciss.
Sorrowful, plaintive.
Sorrowfully, painfully.
The fifth scale degree and its chord (V). The dominant creates the strongest pull back toward the tonic — the V–I resolution is the foundation of tonal harmony.
Double; as in doppio movimento (twice as fast) or doppio valore (note values doubled).
Twice as fast.
Note values doubled: each note now lasts twice as long.
The double bass.
Printed as: D.B., Db.
Two or more instruments playing the same melody simultaneously, either at unison or at the octave.
Softly, gently.
Gently expressive.
Painful, sorrowful.
Sweet, soft, gentle — the French equivalent of dolce.
Soft and expressive.
Soft and weary.
Draw the bow downward, from the frog toward the tip.
Pressing forward.
Third bassoon.
A drum of unspecified kind.
Two strings: partial use of the soft pedal.
Delicately, airily.
Dull, muffled.
The development section of sonata form in German theoretical terminology. Literally "leading through."
Throughout.
And; joins two directions ("dim. e rit.").
On the E string.
The small clarinet pitched a fourth above the B-flat clarinet, used for brilliant high lines.
Printed as: E♭ Cl., Eb Cl.
And (before a vowel).
Editorial marking: text or brackets added by an editor, not the composer.
Printed as: Ed.
Effaced, held in the background.
Lightly brushed: play with the barest touch — on the piano, keys hardly depressed; on strings, the bow skimming the string.
To hurry, rush.
A, an; one. Inside a direction it introduces a comparison ("wie ein Kondukt", like a funeral procession) or a degree ("ein wenig", a little).
Simple, plain.
Holding back.
Introduction.
Singly, one player at a time.
To broaden.
Elegant.
Moved, touched, with emotion.
In, into; forms the "gerund" directions: "en animant", "en retenant".
Becoming more animated.
Becoming louder.
Prominently, brought out — an instruction to project a line above the surrounding texture.
Becoming softer.
Broadening.
Dying away.
Gliding; sliding from note to note.
In strict time.
Holding back, restraining the tempo.
Losing itself; fading away.
Go straight on: continue into the next movement or song without a break. The French equivalent of attacca.
Anvil.
Again, still, even more.
The end.
End.
Energetic, with decisive vigour.
Energetic.
English horn.
Printed as: E.H., Engl. Hr., Engl. Hrn., Engl. H.
English horn (English name).
Printed as: E. Hn., Eng. Hn., E.H.
Notes or chords that sound the same but are spelled differently (e.g., C♯ = D♭). Enharmonic reinterpretation can pivot between remote keys.
Take off the mute.
Decided, resolute.
Enveloped, veiled in tone.
A passage between complete statements of the fugue subject, typically based on fragments of the subject or countersubject, used for modulation.
Earnest, serious.
Aroused, excited.
First violins.
Printed as: Erste Viol., I. Viol., 1. Viol.
Dying away.
First time: the ending for the first pass.
First tempo; return to the opening speed.
Printed as: 1. Tempo, I. Tempo
Narrating.
Exalted, ecstatic.
Expansive, broad and outpouring.
Expression.
Expressively — play with emotional intensity and rubato.
Printed as: espr., espress., espress, espr, express.
Extinguished; played as softly and lifelessly as possible, almost without tone.
And; joins two directions in French.
And so on; shows the pattern continues.
Printed as: etc.
Extinguished; dull, without brightness.
Damp the sound.
Somewhat, a little; softens the direction that follows ("etwas langsamer").
Somewhat more animated.
Somewhat animated: a gently moving tempo, close to andante con moto.
Somewhat more animated; a little faster (= poco più mosso).
Somewhat broader.
Somewhat pressing.
Somewhat quick.
Somewhat brought out.
Somewhat slow.
Somewhat slower.
Somewhat calmer.
Somewhat faster.
Somewhat hesitating.
Somewhat holding back.
Euphonium.
Printed as: Euph.
Euphonium (English name).
Printed as: Euph., Euph
The opening section of sonata form where themes are presented, or the opening section of a fugue where voices enter one by one with the subject.
Expressive.
Printed as: express.
With feeling.
Easier version: the label French editions print over a simplified alternative (an ossia) for a difficult passage.
Bassoon (German name).
Bassoon.
Printed as: Fag., Fg., Fgt., Fag, Fagg.
Fantastic, free in invention.
Almost; softens the direction that follows.
At a quick pace.
Fast and cheerful.
At a quicker tempo than before.
Solemnly, ceremoniously — with festive gravity.
Sticks with felt heads.
A symbol indicating that a note or rest should be held beyond its normal duration. The length is at the performer's discretion.
Fermata, a pause.
Fierce, savage.
Festive.
Fiery.
The winds (woodwind and brass) as a group.
A notational system where a bass line is annotated with numbers indicating the intervals to be played above it. The foundation of Baroque harmonic practice.
Felt mallet.
End.
The closing movement of a work; in opera, the extended ensemble that ends an act.
The end — marks the concluding point in a da capo or dal segno form.
Up to the; "fino al segno", "fino alla fine".
Only the players at the first desks.
Printed as: 1st desks
The ending to play on the first pass.
Printed as: 1st time
Harmonic.
Printed as: Flag.
Flutter-tonguing — a technique for wind instruments where the player rolls an "r" while playing, creating a growling, buzzing effect.
Printed as: Flz., Flatterz.
Flute-like; bowed lightly over the fingerboard for a hollow, airy tone.
Flute. In Baroque scores Flauto on its own usually means the recorder; the transverse flute is then Flauto traverso or Traverso.
Printed as: Fl., Fl, Flaut., Fl. gr., Fl. grande
Bass flute.
Alto flute.
Recorder.
Printed as: Fl. dolce
Piccolo: the small flute sounding an octave above the written pitch.
Printed as: Fl. picc., Fl. pic., Fl.picc., Picc., Picc
Plaintive, weeping.
Italian name for the flugelhorn, and for the whole valved-bugle (saxhorn) family of Italian bands: flicorno soprano, contralto, tenore, baritono, basso.
Flowing.
More flowing.
Flute (German name).
Printed as: Fl.
Briskly, with dash.
Fleeting, hurriedly.
Flugelhorn (English name).
Whispering.
Flute (English name).
Printed as: Fl.
Flute (French name).
Printed as: Fl., Fl
Alto flute.
A rolled-r motion of the tongue (or a flutter in the throat) while blowing, giving a buzzing tremolo on flutes, other woodwinds and brass.
Printed as: flz.
Loud. Abbreviated f.
Printed as: f
Loud immediately followed by soft. Abbreviated fp.
Printed as: fp
Very loud. Abbreviated ff.
Printed as: ff
As loud as possible; louder than fortissimo.
Printed as: fff
Continuing.
Force, strength; appears in con forza and tutta forza.
Forcing; a strong accent, in the same family as sforzando.
Printed as: fz
Whip (slapstick).
Breaking a theme into smaller fragments (motifs) and developing them independently.
In a free, speech-like manner.
Free in tempo: the beat handled freely, as in senza tempo; im Takt restores strict time.
Haste, hurry.
Joyful.
Fresh, brisk.
Fresh and strong.
Cheerful.
Earlier tempo.
Flutter-tongued: the flutter-tongue effect on wind and brass instruments.
Printed as: frull.
Whip (slapstick).
Fugue; the movement heading for a fugal movement.
In the manner of a fugue: a fugal exposition inside a non-fugal movement.
A contrapuntal composition in which a subject is introduced in one voice and then imitated by subsequent voices at the fifth or octave, followed by episodes and further entries.
All the stops drawn; maximum organ tone.
Fiery.
Furiously.
On the G string.
Cheerful, merry.
Cheerful, merry; light-hearted.
Quite, entirely; "ganz leise" is "completely soft".
Bound; smoothly joined.
Muted, muffled.
A muted forte: loud, but with a veiled, damped tone.
Stretched out.
Held back: a restrained, broader tempo, close to sostenuto; over a single note or chord, held for its full length.
Mysteriously.
Walking, at a walking pace.
Moving on a little: a slightly quicker walking pace (comparative of gehend). In “in gehender Bewegung” the form is not a comparative and means simply “in walking motion”.
At a comfortable pace, unhurried.
Moderated, moderate: at a restrained, moderate pace. Close to mäßig, with a stronger sense of holding back.
Measured: at a steady, deliberate, unhurried pace, with an air of restraint.
A sudden silence of the entire ensemble. Abbreviated G.P. One of the most dramatic effects in orchestral music.
Printed as: G.P., G. P.
Songlike, full of singing quality.
Struck: the string, drum or cymbal is struck rather than bowed, rolled or let ring, as in "mit dem Bogen geschlagen".
Swift, quick.
Heightened, intensified.
Stopped — the German equivalent of bouché. Hand-stopping technique for horn.
Printed as: gest., +
Bowed.
Divided: the section splits into separate parts.
Printed as: get.
Sustained, borne; slow and weighty.
Weighty.
Ordinary, normal: cancels a special way of playing.
Drawn: on strings, sustained, full bow strokes (lang gezogen, breit gezogen); elsewhere, drawn out in time.
Joyfully, merrily — with playful humor.
Guitar (German name).
A slide from one pitch to another, passing through all intermediate pitches. On piano, sliding across the keys; on strings, sliding the finger along the string.
Printed as: gliss., gliss
Glockenspiel: tuned metal bars struck with mallets.
Printed as: Glsp., Glock., Glk., Glockensp.
Glowing.
Gong: a struck bronze disc; strictly the kind with a raised central boss and a definite pitch, though many scores write gong for the flat, unpitched tam-tam.
With grace.
Graceful.
Little by little; the English counterpart of poco a poco.
Speed up little by little.
Slow down little by little.
Bass drum.
Printed as: Gr. C., Gr. Cassa, G.C., Gr.C., Gr. cassa
Grand, imposing and broad.
Very slow and solemn; the slowest standard tempo marking, typically 40–50 BPM.
Gravely, solemnly.
Gracefully, elegantly — with lightness and charm.
The great division of an organ, the main manual.
Printed as: Gt.
Fingerboard. As a direction (Griffbrett, am Griffbrett, Griffbr.) it means bow over the fingerboard — sul tasto.
Printed as: Griffbr.
Bass drum (French name).
Printed as: Gr. C., Gr. Caisse, G.C.
The ordinary (large) flute, as opposed to the piccolo.
Printed as: Gr. Fl., Gr. Flöte
Bass drum (literally "large drum").
Printed as: Gr. Tr., Gr. Tromm., Gr. Trommel, Gr.Tr.
Big tone.
A short bass pattern repeated again and again beneath changing upper parts.
Turn: a four- or five-note ornament circling the principal note.
A hollow gourd with a ridged surface, scraped with a stick.
Half the section ("only half").
A cadence that ends on the dominant chord (V), creating an incomplete, questioning effect.
Half; "die Hälfte" asks half the section to play.
A large wooden hammer or mallet struck on a wooden surface for a heavy, dull, non-metallic blow — famously in the finale of Mahler’s Sixth Symphony.
Harp (German name).
Printed as: Hrf.
Flute-like overtones produced on strings (or on harp).
Printed as: harm.
Harmonics.
Printed as: harm.
Harmonium: the reed organ.
Harp.
Printed as: Hp., Hrp.
Harp (French name).
Printed as: Hp.
Harpsichord.
Printed as: Hpsd., Hpschd., Hpsch.
Principal voice — the most important melodic line at any given moment. Marked with a bracketed H in Schoenberg and the Second Viennese School.
Main tempo.
Main tempo: the principal speed of a movement — marked where it first arrives after an introduction, or where it returns after a digression.
Oboe (French name).
Printed as: Htb., Hb., Hautb.
With sincere, deep feeling.
Heckelphone: a baritone oboe devised by the Heckel firm in 1904, scored by Strauss in Salome.
Printed as: Heck., Heckelph.
Vehement, violent.
More vehement.
Secretly, furtively.
Restrained in pace.
A rhythmic device where two groups of three beats are reinterpreted as three groups of two, or vice versa. The ratio is 3:2.
Cowbells (used by Mahler).
Stepping forward: bring out this line above the others.
Heartfelt.
Multiple performers playing slightly different versions of the same melody simultaneously — varying in ornamentation, rhythm, or phrasing.
Climax; the highest point of intensity.
Scornful, mocking.
The woodwinds as a group.
Wooden clapper: generally played as a slapstick (whip), two hinged boards snapped together, though it is sometimes translated as wood block. Mahler’s term.
Wooden mallet.
Printed as: Holzschl.
A texture where one melody predominates, supported by chordal accompaniment. The most common texture in Western music from the Classical era onward.
Horn (the French horn of the orchestra). The same spelling is used in English and German; plural Hörner.
Printed as: Hn., Hr., Hrn., Hn, Hr
Humorous.
The; as in "il più forte possibile".
The singing line; the melody that is to be brought out.
As loud as possible.
As soft as possible.
In the same tempo.
In time.
In tempo: back to the tempo after a ritardando or pause (= a tempo); also, keep strictly in time.
Imitating; copying the manner of another voice or instrument.
One voice restating the melodic shape just heard in another, at the same or a different pitch.
Always, ever; "immer langsamer" is "slower and slower", the German counterpart of sempre.
Slower and slower.
Always louder: continue getting louder.
Always softer: continue getting quieter.
Faster and faster.
Imperious, commanding.
Impetuous, rushing forward with force.
In; as in “in tempo” and “in modo di”, and in instrument labels such as “Clarinetto in B” or “Corno in F”, where it names the instrument’s transposition.
Four beats to the bar.
Printed as: in 4
In walking motion: at an easy walking pace. A German equivalent of andante.
One beat to the bar.
Printed as: in 1
In time: return to strict tempo after a ritardando, fermata or free passage (the same as a tempo), or keep strict time where freedom might be expected. In tempo di… means “at the speed of”.
Three beats to the bar.
Printed as: in 3
In strict time.
Two beats to the bar.
Printed as: in 2
Pressing on, urging forward, usually with growing intensity as well as speed.
Anvil.
Intimately, with deep inner feeling.
Restless, uneasy.
Intense.
A short piece or section placed between larger ones — an interlude between acts or movements, or a contrasting episode within a piece; from Schumann and Brahms on, also a self-standing lyrical piano piece.
Intimate, inward.
Introduction.
Turning a melody upside down — where the original goes up, the inversion goes down by the same interval, and vice versa.
Counterpoint written so that the voices can be swapped — the upper voice can become the lower and vice versa, and the result still sounds correct.
Joyful.
Castanets (German name).
Printed as: Kast.
Bold, cheeky.
Lamenting, plaintive.
Tone-color melody — a melody distributed across different instruments, so that the timbre changes with each note or group of notes.
Clarinet (German name).
Printed as: Klar., Kl., Klar
Piano (German name); in older spelling Clavier, which before about 1800 meant any keyboard instrument.
Printed as: Klav.
Piccolo (literally "small flute").
Printed as: Kl. Fl., Kl. Flöte, Kl.Fl.
Snare drum (literally "small drum").
Printed as: Kl. Tr., Kl. Trommel, Kl.Tr., Kl. Tromm.
Let it ring.
A funeral procession, a cortège. "Wie ein Kondukt" asks for its slow, heavy, even tread.
Double bass (German name).
Printed as: Kb.
Contrabassoon.
Printed as: Kfg., Kfag., Kontrafag., Kontraf., Contraf.
Cornet.
Strong, vigorous.
Short.
Short bow strokes.
The same tempo: the beat stays constant while the notation or meter changes.
Printed as: L’istesso
Tearful, mournful.
Let ring.
Printed as: l.v.
Lamenting, plaintive.
A slow Austrian peasant dance in triple time, ancestor of the waltz.
Long.
Bowed with long strokes.
Slow. The standard German equivalent of Lento or Adagio.
Slower.
Languid, listless.
Broadly, with a wide, slow stride and full tone.
Broadly.
Somewhat slow and broad, slightly faster than Largo. Typically 60–66 BPM.
Extremely slow and broad; slower than Largo.
Very slow and broad, typically 40–60 BPM. The word means "wide" — implying expansiveness.
Very broad and slow.
Broad and sorrowful.
Broad and majestic.
Let it ring.
Printed as: l.v.
On the last pass only.
Loud.
The definite article: le (masculine), la (feminine), l’ (before a vowel), les (plural), as in “le chant” and “les sourdines”.
Lively, animated — full of life. Close to lebhaft; a German counterpart of vivace.
Lively, animated. Similar to Vivace.
More lively.
The left hand.
Printed as: L.H., l.h., L. H.
As smoothly connected as possible.
Printed as: legatiss.
Smooth and connected, with no gaps between notes.
Printed as: leg.
Light.
Lightly; when it qualifies another direction, slightly (cédez légèrement = hold back a little).
Very light.
Lightly.
Lightly, nimbly — with delicate touch and clear articulation.
Printed as: legg., legg
The woodwinds as a group.
Light.
Lightly moving.
Passionate.
Soft, quiet.
Slow. The standard French tempo marking.
Slow and painful.
Slowly; the adverb form of lento, used as a tempo word or a qualifier.
Slowing down; a gradual relaxing of the tempo, close to rallentando.
Slowly.
As slow as the music can go while still sounding like a pulse.
Slow, typically 45–60 BPM. Simply indicates slowness without the specific character implications of Grave or Largo.
Very slow.
Slow, with a great deal of expression.
Slow, but not too slow.
Slow and majestic.
To a lesser degree.
Allow the sound to continue ringing.
Printed as: l.v.
Freely.
Joined, slurred.
Lovely, sweet.
Song.
Bound; an older spelling of the idea of legato.
With a light, delicate touch.
Left hand.
Printed as: l.H., l. H., L.H.
Lute.
Brisk and animated.
In place — return to the normal register after an 8va (octave higher) or 8vb (octave lower) passage.
Distant, far away.
Held for the full length; over a pause, hold it long.
At a high volume.
Heavy.
A gently pulsed bow stroke: several notes carried in one bow, each slightly separated, usually written as lines (sometimes dots) under a slur. As a movement title, Loure names a slow French dance, usually in 6/4.
A short break for breath.
Luminous.
Long; as in lunga pausa, a long pause, or a long hold on a note.
A long pause.
Coaxing, in a flattering and caressing manner.
Merry.
But; joins a direction with its qualification ("allegro ma non troppo").
But not too much; tempers a tempo or character word.
Wind machine.
Majestically, with grandeur and dignity.
Major: heads a section in the major mode, typically after or within music in the minor.
Printed as: magg.
Right hand.
Printed as: m.d., M.D., m. d., M. D.
Left hand.
Printed as: m.g., M.G., m. g., M. G.
But; joins a direction with its qualification in French.
Melancholy.
Fading away, dying out.
Mandolin.
Printed as: Mand.
Right hand.
Printed as: m.d., M.D., m. d.
Left hand.
Printed as: m.s., M.S., m. s.
Manual: the hand keyboard of an organ (as opposed to the pedalboard).
Printed as: Man.
Very strongly marked.
Marked, emphasized — each note given weight and clearly projected. As a sign it is usually the vertical wedge (^), a stronger accent than >.
Printed as: marc., marc
Very marked.
Bring out the melody with marked notes.
Funeral march.
Funeral march.
Marimba.
Full of marrow: vigorous and substantial in tone.
Marked, stressed.
March.
In march style.
Hammered: a bow stroke in which each note is attacked with pressure, released at once and separated by a small silence. In piano music, strongly hammered notes.
Hammered; each note struck firmly and detached.
Martial, in the manner of a march.
Moderate. The German equivalent of Moderato.
Moderately moving: a moderate tempo with forward motion (= moderato con moto).
Moderately quick.
Moderately slow.
Moderately fast.
More; the comparative marker in directions that ask for an increase.
The principal tune.
Same; "même mouvement" means "the same tempo".
The same tempo.
Printed as: Même mouvt.
The same note.
Men’s voices of a chorus.
Less. Meno mosso = less motion (slower). Meno forte = less loud.
Less loud.
Less motion: slower than the preceding tempo.
Less soft, i.e. a little louder.
Less lively: somewhat slower and calmer than the preceding vivo or fast tempo.
Minuet.
Minuet.
Minuet: the stately triple-time dance movement.
Sad, sorrowful.
Put the mutes on.
Half voice — singing or playing at moderate volume with restrained tone.
Printed as: m.v.
In a half voice, gracefully.
Half, medium: with piano or forte it marks the middle dynamic levels (mp, mf); it also appears in mezza voce and mezzo staccato.
Moderately loud. Abbreviated mf.
Printed as: mf
Moderately soft. Abbreviated mp.
Printed as: mp
Half-detached; between staccato and legato.
Mezzo-soprano voice; English scores hyphenate it (Mezzo-soprano).
Printed as: Mz., Mez.
Minor; marks a section in the minor mode.
Printed as: min.
A stately dance in 3/4 time, used as the third movement of Classical symphonies, quartets, and sonatas. Paired with a contrasting trio section.
Mysteriously — with an enigmatic, secretive quality.
Measured; in strict time.
With; the German counterpart of con.
With expression.
With the bow.
With mute — the German equivalent of con sordino.
Struck with the bow: the player strikes the string with the bow instead of drawing it across, a battuto stroke.
With feeling.
With energy.
With fire.
With force.
With humour.
With heartfelt intimacy.
With strength.
With passion.
With swing and impetus.
With plates: cymbals clashed together.
With restrained voice: sing softly and inwardly, the tone held back as if suppressing emotion.
With the soft pedal (una corda).
With warmth.
Counterpoint composed in the church modes in the strict 16th-century (Palestrina) style, as distinct from the tonal counterpoint of the Baroque. Its rules were not handed down as axioms but observed in Palestrina's music by later scholars — chiefly Knud Jeppesen — so they read as guidelines for a style rather than the stricter training laws of Fux's species. The modal practice adds devices the species omit (the lower auxiliary, the descending accented quarter passing tone, the decorated suspension resolution, points of imitation) and loosens others (near non-simultaneous fifths in inner voices, the consonant fourth, hidden fifths in thick textures) — though genuine consecutive parallel fifths stay forbidden.
Borrowing chords from the parallel key (e.g., using chords from C minor while in C major). Also called "mode mixture" or "borrowed chords."
A scale pattern, such as the Dorian or the major, that gives a piece its pitch material.
At a measured, middle pace.
At a moderately quick pace.
At a moderately slow pace.
At a moderate speed, typically 108–120 BPM.
Printed as: mod.
Very moderate; a distinctly measured pace.
Moderate, in a singing style.
Moderate, with movement.
Moderate and expressive.
Moderate. The French equivalent of Moderato.
Moderately animated: at a moderately lively pace — livelier than modéré, calmer than animé.
Changing from one key to another within a piece. The harmonic equivalent of traveling to a new place.
Less ("moins vite").
Less slow: a little quicker than the slow tempo before it, without becoming fast.
Less fast.
Very, much. An intensifier: molto allegro (very fast), molto espressivo (very expressively).
Speeding up a great deal.
Printed as: molto accel., accel. molto
Broadening a great deal.
Printed as: molto allarg.
Very songlike.
With great fire.
Very sweet.
Very expressive.
Printed as: molto espress., molto espr.
Very smooth.
Very slow.
Very strongly marked.
Very moderate; steady and unhurried.
Very heavy.
Much slower.
Slowing down a great deal.
Printed as: molto rall., rall. molto
Slowing down a great deal.
Printed as: molto rit., molto ritard., ritard. molto, rit. molto
Held back a great deal.
Printed as: molto riten., molto rit., riten. molto
Pressing forward strongly.
Printed as: molto string., stringendo molto
With much vibrato.
Printed as: molto vib.
Very lively.
A single melodic line with no accompaniment — the simplest musical texture.
A piece or composition. Used in French titles: morceau de concert, morceau symphonique.
An ornament: the written note, its neighbour a step above or below, and the written note again, played quickly.
Mordent: a quick alternation of the written note with its neighbour.
To a greater degree.
Dying away — getting softer and often slower, fading to nothing.
Moved, agitated; a quicker, more animated pace, nearly always seen as più mosso or meno mosso.
The smallest recognizable musical idea — a short rhythmic, melodic, or harmonic figure that can generate larger structures through development.
Motion, movement; appears in phrases such as con moto and più moto.
Movement; the pace or tempo of the music.
Printed as: mouv., mouvt.
Lively, agitated in movement.
A great deal ("much bow").
Cheerful, brisk.
A murmur; very soft and hushed.
Literally "feigned music" — the Renaissance practice of raising or lowering a note by an accidental that the score does not write out, supplied by the performer according to convention. Its most important use is at the cadence: in Dorian, Aeolian, and Mixolydian the seventh degree is raised so the penultimate sonority pulls into the final like a leading tone. Renaissance sources, Palestrina’s among them, leave many of these accidentals unwritten, trusting the singers to complete the rest.
Change: the player swaps to another instrument, crook or tuning (muta in C = change to C).
They change; plural of muta, used when a pair of players change instruments or tunings.
A device placed on the bridge or in the bell to soften and change the tone.
Played with the mute on.
Mysterious.
Little by little; gradually.
Imitating.
Yielding, giving way.
Slackening, easing off.
An ending ornament — one or two notes at the end of a trill that lead smoothly into the next note. Literally "after-stroke."
Naively.
In a narrating manner.
Nasal in tone.
Harmonics produced by lightly touching an open string.
Natural: return to the normal sound (no mute, no special position or technique).
Printed as: nat.
Natural: normal tone, cancelling an effect.
A major triad built on the lowered second scale degree, typically in first inversion (♭II6). Creates a distinctive dark, expressive color.
Secondary voice — the second most important melodic line. Marked with a bracketed N in Schoenberg and the Second Viennese School.
To take (another instrument): nehmen / nimmt = take(s) up an instrument; übernimmt = takes over a line from another player or hand.
Clean, clear.
Not; negates the direction that follows.
Do not hurry.
Not divided: the section plays together again.
Do not drag.
Not fast.
Do not divide.
Not too; limits a direction ("nicht zu schnell").
Not too quick.
Not too slow.
Not too brisk.
Not too fast.
Nobly.
Still, even (more); "noch schneller" is "faster still".
Faster still.
Not; negates the direction that follows ("non legato", "non troppo").
Not divided: cancels divisi so that all players of a section play the same line again.
Printed as: non div., non div
Not smoothly joined; notes lightly separated but not clipped.
Not so much.
Not too much.
Normal manner of playing.
Printed as: norm.
Moderate or slow, not hurried.
Not to be struck: notes held or silently depressed rather than played — on the piano, keys pressed down without sound so their strings ring in sympathy, or held notes not to be repeated.
Note well; calls attention to a note or caution.
Printed as: N.B., NB, NB.
Shadings of dynamics and colour; "sans nuances" means without shading.
An essential instrumental part that cannot be omitted — often a prominent solo line accompanying a vocal melody.
Printed as: obbl., obb.
One voice moves while the other stays on the same note.
Oboe: the double-reed treble woodwind. The same spelling is used in English, Italian and modern German scores.
Printed as: Ob., Ob
Bass oboe.
Printed as: B. Ob., Bass Ob.
Oboe d’amore: the oboe a minor third lower than the ordinary oboe, with a bulb bell and mellow tone.
Printed as: Ob. d’am., Ob. d'am.
Hunting oboe: a baroque alto oboe in F, used by Bach.
Play an octave above the written pitch.
Open: cancels a mute or stopped tone.
Ophicleide: the keyed bass bugle of the 19th century, replaced by the tuba.
Without; the German counterpart of senza.
Without crescendo.
Printed as: ohne cresc.
Without mute.
Without pedal.
Without interruption: go on straight away.
Without the soft pedal (tre corde).
A single stand of string players (two players sharing a music stand).
Printed as: 1 desk
Without mute or hand-stopping: the normal sound of a brass instrument, cancelling muted or stopped (+) playing; also an open string (o). In English keyboard music of the 1790s, “open pedal” means raise the dampers.
May be played or omitted.
A cataloging number assigned to a composer's works, usually in order of publication. Abbreviated Op.
Printed as: Op.
Ordinary: return to the normal way of playing after an effect.
Printed as: ord.
Organ.
Printed as: Org.
The pedalboard of the organ.
Organ.
Printed as: Org.
Organ (German name).
Organ (French name).
Printed as: Org.
The composer’s original text, as distinct from an editor’s addition.
Printed as: orig.
Decorative notes added to a melody — including trills, mordents, turns, grace notes, and appoggiaturas.
Or — an alternative version of a passage, usually written in a smaller staff above the main part, offering an easier or different option.
A persistently repeating musical pattern — melodic, rhythmic, or harmonic.
Take the mutes off.
The remaining half of a divided section.
An octave above.
Printed as: 8va alta
An octave below.
Printed as: 8va bassa, 8vb, 8va b., 8va bassa., 8ba
Piccolo (Italian name).
Printed as: Ott.
The brass as a group.
Open (cancelling a mute or stopped tone).
Two voices moving in the same direction by the same interval. Parallel fifths and octaves are forbidden in traditional counterpoint as they destroy voice independence.
In a speaking manner; the voice or instrument imitates speech.
A figured-bass exercise — typically a single staff with a bass line and figures — used as the basis for improvised keyboard composition in the Italian conservatory tradition. The student realizes the bass into a complete keyboard piece, often with elaborate figuration in the upper voices.
Not, as in “pas vite” (not fast) and “pas trop” (not too); as a noun, a step, as in “pas à pas” (step by step).
Not too; limits a direction ("pas trop lent").
Not too slow.
Not fast.
A set of continuous variations over a repeating bass line (ground bass), typically in triple meter.
Impassioned; a variant of appassionato.
Impassioned.
In a rustic, shepherd-like manner. As a title, Pastorale names a movement in that style, typically in 6/8 or 12/8 over drone-like pedal notes.
With pathos; full of deep, moving emotion. It does not carry the modern English sense of “pathetic” (pitiful).
Timpani (German name).
Printed as: Pk., Pauk., Pk
A rest: a measured silence (Viertelpause, quarter rest); also a break between sections or movements. Not a hold — the German for fermata is Fermate.
A hold or break in the music.
Bell up.
The piano or organ pedal (the same word in English and German scores); on organ, a pedalboard played with the feet.
Printed as: Ped.
Depress the pedal.
A sustained or repeated bass note (usually tonic or dominant) held while the upper voices move through changing harmonies.
Pedal: on the piano, the sustaining (damper) pedal, marked Ped. and released at *; also the organ pedalboard and the pitch-changing pedals of harp and timpani. In Italian theory, also a pedal point.
Printed as: Ped., Ped
Pedal.
Printed as: Péd., Ped.
Pedal at the player’s discretion.
The pedals: on the organ, the pedalboard played by the feet (Pedals labels its line); on the piano, the damper and soft pedals; on the harp, the seven tuning pedals.
Whip (slapstick).
The percussion section as a group.
Printed as: Perc.
The percussion section as a group.
Printed as: Perc., Perc
Losing strength; fading away in volume.
Losing itself — getting softer and often slower, disappearing completely.
Heavy, weighty; each note with weight.
Piccolo (literally "small flute").
Printed as: Pet. Fl., Petite Fl.
Little, not much. On its own it restricts (“cédez très peu”, yield only very slightly); it also forms “un peu” (a little) and “peu à peu” (little by little).
Little by little; gradually.
Pleasant, agreeable.
Weeping, crying.
Very soft. Abbreviated pp.
Printed as: pp
As soft as possible; softer than pianissimo.
Printed as: ppp
Soft. Abbreviated p.
Printed as: p
Piano.
Printed as: Pno., Pf.
Piano.
Printed as: Pf., Pfte., Pno.
Cymbals.
Printed as: Piat.
Detached, as if dotted: short, light, separated notes; in string parts, a light, springing stroke close to spiccato.
A short pause.
More. Più mosso = more motion (faster). Più forte = louder.
More agitated.
Faster, with more of an allegro character.
More animated.
Growing still louder.
Printed as: più cresc.
With more force.
Growing still softer.
Printed as: più dim.
Sweeter, softer in character.
Louder than before.
Printed as: più f
Slower than before.
More motion: faster than the preceding tempo.
More motion, a quicker flow.
Softer than before.
Printed as: più p
Faster, towards presto.
More emphasis, building the reinforcing push.
Printed as: più rinforz., più rinf.
Calmer; on scores it usually eases the tempo a little as well as the character.
A chord belonging to both the old key and the new one, used as a hinge in a modulation.
Plucking the string with the finger instead of bowing. Abbreviated pizz.
Printed as: pizz., pizz
Keep plucking.
Printed as: sempre pizz.
Placid, calm.
A cadence moving from subdominant to tonic (IV–I). Often called the "Amen" cadence.
Plaintive.
Suddenly.
More; a comparative marker ("plus lent", "plus vite").
More animated; faster and livelier.
Lower.
More expressive.
Broader.
Slower.
Faster.
A tiny bit; softens a direction, as in pochettino rit.
Very little; the smallest degree, less than poco, as in pochissimo rit.
Printed as: pochiss.
Held back very slightly.
Printed as: pochiss. rit., pochiss. ritenuto
A little, slightly. A diminisher: poco ritardando (slow down a little), poco a poco (little by little).
Little by little: apply the change gradually.
Speeding up little by little.
Printed as: poco a poco accel.
Becoming gradually more animated.
Growing louder little by little.
Printed as: poco a poco cresc., cresc. poco a poco
Growing softer little by little.
Printed as: poco a poco dim., dim. poco a poco
Gradually becoming more animated.
Slowing down little by little.
Printed as: poco a poco rit., poco a poco ritard.
Speeding up slightly.
Printed as: poco accel.
Somewhat adagio; a bit less slow than a full adagio.
Somewhat agitated.
Broadening slightly.
Printed as: poco allarg.
A little allegretto: somewhat moderately quick.
Somewhat andante; a little less than a full walking pace.
Somewhat animated; a modest increase in life and pace.
Easing off a little in both volume and pace.
Printed as: poco cal.
Growing a little louder.
Printed as: poco cresc., poco cresc, un poco cresc.
Growing a little softer.
Printed as: poco decresc.
Growing a little softer.
Printed as: poco dim., poco dim, un poco dim.
Somewhat loud; a modest step up from the prevailing level.
Printed as: poco f
Somewhat slow.
Slightly marked.
Printed as: poco marc.
A little less (fast or loud, depending on context).
A little slower.
With a little motion: somewhat faster than the preceding tempo; as an opening heading, moderately animated. Often printed Un poco mosso.
Somewhat soft.
A little slower.
A little faster.
A little more motion.
Slowing down slightly.
Printed as: poco rall., poco rallent.
Slowing down slightly.
Printed as: poco rit., poco ritard., poco ritard
Held back slightly.
Printed as: poco riten., poco rit.
Somewhat sustained.
Printed as: poco sost.
Pressing forward slightly.
Printed as: poco string.
Slightly toward the bridge.
Printed as: poco sul pont.
Then; marks the next stage of a direction (“dim., poi cresc.”, “D.C. e poi la Coda”). Doubled, poi a poi means little by little.
Little by little, gradually — the same as poco a poco. It qualifies another direction (poi a poi più moto, poi a poi crescendo) rather than standing alone.
A texture of multiple independent melodic lines sounding simultaneously — the texture of counterpoint and fugue.
Two or more different rhythmic patterns performed simultaneously (e.g., three against two, four against three).
Pompous, stately.
With pomp; stately and grand. It does not carry the mocking sense of the English “pompous”.
A smooth, continuous slide from one pitch to another (in vocal or string playing). More controlled than a glissando.
Carrying; the voice or bow carried smoothly from note to note.
Between legato and staccato — slightly separated but not as detached as staccato. Marked with dots under a slur.
Carry the voice: slide smoothly from note to note (portamento).
Trombone (German name).
Printed as: Pos.
Possible; as in "il più forte possibile".
To finish.
Rushing headlong; faster and less controlled than stringendo.
Precise, exact.
First tempo: return to the tempo at which the piece began. The French counterpart of Tempo primo, usually printed abbreviated as 1er Mouvt.
Printed as: 1er Mouvt, 1er Mouvt., 1er mouvt, 1er Mouvement, 1er mouvement
Near the soundboard (harp): a nasal, guitar-like tone.
Printed as: p.d.l.t.
Almost.
Almost without voice.
Press on; hurry.
As fast as possible, faster than Presto. Typically 200+ BPM.
Very fast, typically 168–200 BPM.
Very fast and agitated.
Very fast indeed.
Very fast, with fire.
Very fast and furious.
Fast, but not very fast: a presto held back from its extreme.
Very fast, but not excessively.
First (feminine), as in prima volta, the first-time ending; also the adverb ‘before’, as in come prima (as before) and poco meno che prima (a little less than before).
First time: the ending to play on the first pass.
Printed as: 1ma volta, 1ma, 1ª volta
First; as in "tempo primo" or the first player or part of a duet.
Desk (stand), shared by two string players; "1 Pult" is one desk.
With the tip of the bow.
Almost, as if; softens a direction ("quasi allegretto", "quasi pizz.").
Nearly in tempo; a softened return to the main pulse.
Almost adagio; in an adagio-like pace.
Almost allegretto.
Almost andante.
Almost andantino: at an easy, flowing walking pace, in the manner of an andantino.
Almost plucked: in string parts, a bowed stroke as short and dry as pizzicato; in keyboard parts, a crisp, dry touch imitating plucked strings.
Printed as: quasi pizz.
Almost presto.
Almost the first tempo.
Like a trill; a quick shake of notes without a formal trill.
Fast, rapid.
In a quiet, hushed manner.
Quiet, still.
Fifteenth: two octaves higher (or lower) than written.
Printed as: 15ma, 15ma., 15mb, 15va
The fifth voice part in a five-voice work.
Becoming sweeter and softer.
Ratchet.
Slow down.
Gradually slowing down. Abbreviated rall. Essentially synonymous with ritardando.
Printed as: rall., rallent., rall, rallent
Fast.
Quick, fast.
Brisk, quick.
Brisker, faster.
Ratchet.
Somewhat quicker.
Ratchet.
The return of the exposition material, now with both themes in the tonic key, resolving the tonal tension of the exposition.
Right hand.
Printed as: r.H., r. H., R.H.
Recitative, a passage in free, speech-like rhythm. In French organ music also a solo melody on a solo stop (Récit de tierce), or the Récit division — the swell manual, abbreviated Réc.
Printed as: Rec., Recit., Réc.
A style of vocal writing that follows the natural rhythms of speech rather than strict musical meter. Used in opera and oratorio for dialogue and narrative.
Recitative: speech-like singing, with sparse accompaniment.
Printed as: recit., rec.
Recorder.
Printed as: Rec.
Collected, inward.
Refrain.
A band of pitches in an instrument or voice, such as low, middle or high. On the organ, a register is a stop: a rank of pipes of one tone colour.
Religiously, devotionally.
Play the marked section again.
Repeat.
Resume the original tempo.
The move of a dissonant note or chord to a stable one.
Breath; a place to breathe.
A silence of a stated length.
Hold back.
Held back.
Stating a melody backwards — from the last note to the first.
Dreamily.
Rhythmically, with marked rhythm.
A bounced bow stroke, throwing the bow onto the string for several rebounds in one bow.
The right hand.
Printed as: R.H., r.h., R. H.
Reinforcing; a sudden swell of emphasis on a note or short phrase.
Printed as: rinf., rinforz., rf, rfz
Full: the whole ensemble, as opposed to the solo concertino group.
Printed as: rip.
Resumption, repeat.
Resolutely, with firm decision.
Gradually slowing down. Abbreviated rit.
Printed as: rit., ritard., ritar., rit, ritard
Holding back; a participle sometimes printed as poco ritenente.
Immediately slower (not gradually). Abbreviated riten.
Printed as: riten., rit., riten
Rhythm of two bars: the bars are felt in groups of two.
Rhythm of four bars: the bars are felt in groups of four.
Rhythm of three bars: the music is felt in groups of three measures, as in the scherzo of Beethoven’s Ninth.
Rough, coarse.
Tubular bells.
A rapid alternation of strokes on a percussion instrument.
Rondeau: a form in which a refrain alternates with couplets.
A form built on the alternation of a recurring refrain (A) with contrasting episodes (B, C, etc.). Common pattern: ABACA or ABACABA.
Roll.
Printed as: roul.
Literally "stolen time." Flexible tempo where some notes are slightly lengthened while others are shortened, maintaining the overall pulse.
Peaceful.
Calm, quiet, steady.
Calmer, more settled.
A roll on a drum or other percussion.
Printed as: rull.
Switch: a bundle of twigs used as a percussion beater, as in Mahler.
With a marked rhythm.
String.
Leaping; a bouncing bow stroke where the bow bounces off the string.
Printed as: salt.
Keep the pulse unchanged.
Gentle, soft.
Gently moving.
Without; the counterpart of senza.
Without increasing.
Without colour: flat, neutral tone.
Without haste.
Without sluggishness.
Without pedal.
Without hurrying: keep the tempo steady and do not push ahead.
Without slowing down.
Without breathing.
Without strictness; freely.
Without mute; in French piano music, release the soft pedal.
Printed as: sans sourd.
Sarrusophone: a double-reed brass-bodied instrument devised as a bassoon substitute.
Saxophone.
Printed as: Sax.
Movement of a larger work (1. Satz, first movement). In German theory also a setting or texture (vierstimmiger Satz, four-part writing) and the sentence, a phrase type (Schoenberg’s Satz).
The valved bugle family devised by Adolphe Sax.
Bell down: lower the bell to its normal position.
Bell up: raise the bell of the instrument for a bigger, rougher sound.
Printed as: Schalltr. auf, Schalltr.auf, Schalltr. auf!
Sleigh bells.
Playfully, jokingly — with humor and lightness.
A lively, often humorous movement in triple meter that replaced the minuet in symphonies and sonatas from Beethoven onward. Literally "joke."
Mallet, beater.
Percussion (as a group).
Printed as: Schlgz.
Dragging.
As quickly as possible.
Plain, unadorned.
End, close. On scores it appears in phrases such as bis zum Schluss (until the end) and Zum Schluss (to close, heading a final section); in German analysis it forms compounds such as Schlussgruppe (closing group) and Schlusskadenz (final cadence).
Painfully.
Fast. The standard German equivalent of Allegro or Vivace.
Faster.
Step, pace. "In gemessenem Schritt" is at a measured, processional pace.
Timid, shy.
Weaker, softer.
Sponge-headed mallet.
Heavy.
Melancholy, heavy-hearted: sorrowful in a weighed-down, brooding way.
With sweep and élan.
The art of distributing musical material among the instruments of an ensemble — choosing who plays what, when, and how.
Flowing, gliding along smoothly.
Dry, short, without resonance.
Dry: short, without resonance or sustain.
The ending to play on the second pass.
Printed as: 2nd time
Second time: the ending to play on the second pass.
Printed as: 2da volta, 2da, 2ª volta
A dominant chord (major triad or dominant seventh) that resolves to a chord other than the tonic. Notated V/x (e.g., V/V, V/ii).
Soulful.
Sign; the mark to which a "dal segno" repeat returns.
Follow on — proceed to the next section without interruption. Similar to attacca but can also mean "continue in the same manner."
Longing, yearning — a deep, unfulfilled desire.
Full of yearning.
Very; intensifies the direction that follows ("sehr langsam").
Very animated: with much motion and forward drive.
Very broad.
Strongly brought out.
Very slow. The German equivalent of Molto lento or Largo.
Very loud.
Very lively.
Very lively and pressing forward.
Very soft.
Very moderate.
Very brisk.
Very calm.
Very fast.
Very much holding back.
Simple, unaffected.
Always, continuously. Sempre piano = remain soft throughout. Sempre legato = always connected.
Keep up the fire throughout.
Continue getting louder.
Printed as: sempre cresc., cresc. sempre
Continue getting softer.
Printed as: sempre dim., dim. sempre
Keep sweet and soft throughout.
Keep very sweet and soft throughout.
Continue loudly throughout.
Printed as: sempre f
Continue very loudly throughout.
Printed as: sempre ff
Smooth throughout.
Light throughout.
Printed as: sempre legg.
Continue to mark each note.
Printed as: sempre marc.
Keep the notes separate and unslurred throughout.
Continue very softly throughout.
Printed as: sempre pp
Continue softly throughout.
Printed as: sempre p
Ever more: continue increasing whatever the preceding direction asked for.
Getting louder and louder.
Printed as: sempre più f
Faster and faster.
Getting softer and softer.
Printed as: sempre più p
Throughout without strictness.
Continue in the same way.
Printed as: sempre sim.
Short and detached throughout.
Printed as: sempre stacc.
Keep the soft pedal down.
Feeling; the noun behind con sentimento.
Without. Used as a prefix: senza sordino (without mute), senza vibrato (without vibrato), senza tempo (without strict tempo).
Without getting louder; hold the level.
Printed as: senza cresc.
Without getting softer.
Printed as: senza dim.
Without haste.
Without measure: no strict beat is kept.
Without pedal.
Printed as: senza Ped., senza ped.
Without repeat: skip the repeats when returning.
Without strictness; allowing a little freedom of pulse.
Without mute: remove the mute (senza sordini, plural, for a whole section). In early piano music, as in Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata, senza sordini means without dampers — that is, with the sustaining pedal down.
Printed as: senza sord.
Without strict time: play freely, not in measured beats — usually over a cadenza or flourish that the bar cannot contain.
Without vibrato.
Printed as: senza vib., non vib.
A melodic or harmonic pattern repeated at successively higher or lower pitch levels.
Serene.
Serious.
Serpent: the snake-shaped bass wind instrument of earlier centuries.
Tight, pressed together.
Tighten: press the tempo forward.
Alone, solo.
A sudden, strong accent on a single note or chord. Abbreviated sfz or sf.
Printed as: sf, sfz
A forceful accent that drops immediately to soft.
Printed as: sfp
The strongest sforzando: an extra-forceful accent on a single note or chord, printed sffz (sometimes sff).
Printed as: sffz, sff
Brief and detached; over a pause, keep the hold brief.
A gentle dance in lilting 6/8 or 12/8, pastoral in mood.
A rim click on the snare drum made with the stick laid across the head.
Similarly — continue in the same manner as before. Often used to avoid rewriting repeated articulation markings or patterns.
Printed as: sim.
Simple, plain.
Singing.
In a songlike manner.
Singing voice: the label for the vocal line.
Organ stops sounding an octave lower than written.
Printed as: 16 ft, 16′, 16'
Broadening and slowing; a variant of allargando.
Printed as: slarg.
Sleigh bells.
Slowing and relaxing the pace.
A little, to a small degree.
At a slow pace.
At a slower tempo than before.
At a slow pace.
Joined without breaks.
Extinguishing, dying away. Similar to morendo but sometimes implies a more abrupt dampening.
Printed as: smorz., smorz
To fade, to damp; as in con suono smorzare.
Snare drum.
Printed as: Sn. Dr., S.D.
Suave, gentle and sweet.
At a low volume.
A beater with a soft felt head.
Solemn.
Solemn.
A passage for a small group of soloists, or the solo group in a concerto grosso.
A passage for a single performer, or the featured instrument in a concerto.
The solo violin: the soloist in a concerto, or a single orchestral violinist (usually the leader) given a solo passage.
Solo violin; a passage for the single leader or the soloist.
Dark, gloomy in tone.
Sleigh bells.
A three-part structure consisting of exposition (two contrasting themes), development (themes transformed), and recapitulation (themes return in the home key). The most important form in Classical and Romantic music.
Sonorous; with full tone.
Sonorous, with full ringing tone.
Above, over. Alone in keyboard music it tells a hand to pass over the other in a crossing (the opposite of sotto); in come sopra it means “as above”.
Soprano voice (German spelling).
Printed as: S., Sopr., Sop.
Soprano voice.
Printed as: S., Sop., Sopr., Sop
Mute: the device that softens and veils an instrument’s tone (con sordino, muted). In piano music of Beethoven’s time, sordini are the dampers, so senza sordini means with the dampers raised — the sustaining pedal.
Printed as: sord.
Sustained — hold notes to their full value, with a broad, singing quality.
Printed as: sost., sosten.
Very sustained.
Under, below. Alone in keyboard music it tells a hand to pass under the other in a crossing (the opposite of sopra); it also forms sotto voce.
Literally "under the voice" — in an undertone, very softly as if whispering.
Printed as: s.v.
Supple, flexible.
Mute — the French equivalent of sordino or Dämpfer for strings and brass; in French piano music, the soft (una corda) pedal.
Printed as: sourd.
Sustained: hold the tone full and connected; like the Italian sostenuto it can also suggest a steady, slightly restrained pace.
A systematic method of teaching counterpoint in five progressively complex "species," codified by Johann Joseph Fux in "Gradus ad Parnassum" (1725).
Extinguishing; dying away.
A bouncing bow stroke where the bow leaves the string between each note.
Playing technique — the physical manner of sound production. Extended Spieltechniken = extended techniques (non-standard ways of producing sound).
Spirited.
Extremely short and detached. Marked with a small vertical wedge above or below the notehead.
Detached, shortened — each note clearly separated from the next. Marked with a dot above or below the notehead.
Printed as: stacc., stacc
Strong, loud.
Stronger, louder.
Intensifying, building up: a growth in intensity that usually brings more speed or volume (Mahler pairs it with animando or con accrescimento).
Intensification, buildup — a passage of increasing intensity leading to a climax.
Drumsticks.
Quicker again.
Voice or part: the singing voice itself (mit halber Stimme, with half voice), a vocal or instrumental part (Singstimme, Oberstimme = upper voice), and in the plural, Stimmen, the set of performing parts.
Horn tone made with the hand in the bell.
Dragging; drawing out the notes with a pulling, reluctant feel.
The string section.
Printed as: Str.
Strict, severe. On scores it means either strictly in time (streng im Takt, streng im Tempo) or a stern, austere character, as in Mahler’s “Streng. Wie ein Kondukt.”
Noisily, boisterously.
A closing passage taken at an increased speed.
In fugue: entries of the subject overlapping before the previous entry is complete, creating increased intensity. In general: a passage of accelerating tension toward a climax.
Bow stroke.
Stroke for stroke; each note with its own bow.
Pressing forward, tightening the tempo. Implies urgency as well as speed.
Printed as: string.
Pressing the tempo forward.
The string section.
Printed as: Str.
Stormy.
The fourth scale degree and its chord (IV). Creates a softer, less urgent pull than the dominant.
Suddenly, at once. Usually paired with a dynamic — subito piano (sub. p), subito forte (sub. f) — or following another word, as in attacca subito or volti subito.
Printed as: sub.
Suddenly loud.
Printed as: subito f, sub. f, f subito
Suddenly very loud.
Printed as: subito ff, sub. ff, ff subito
Suddenly very soft.
Printed as: subito pp, sub. pp, pp subito
Suddenly soft.
Printed as: subito p, sub. p, sub. piano, p subito, p sub.
The main theme of a fugue, stated at the outset and imitated by each subsequent voice.
Follow (the soloist or singer).
Follow the singer.
On the C string (violas and cellos).
Printed as: sul C
On the A string.
Printed as: sul A
On the E string.
Printed as: sul E
Bowing near the bridge, producing a thin, glassy, overtone-rich sound.
Printed as: sul pont., pont., sul pont
On the D string.
Printed as: sul D
On the G string.
Printed as: sul G
Bowing over the fingerboard, producing a soft, flute-like, fundamental-rich sound.
Sounding at actual pitch.
On, upon ("sur la touche").
On the tongue: one of Satie’s whimsical directions in Gnossienne No. 1 — an image for the player, not an instrumental technique.
On the fingerboard.
On the bridge.
A single cymbal hung from a stand and struck or rolled.
Printed as: Sus. Cym., Susp. Cym.
A dissonance created by holding a note from the previous chord while the other voices move, then resolving it stepwise downward.
Held for their full length.
Gently and smoothly.
The swell division of an organ, or its expression pedal.
Printed as: Sw.
Accenting weak beats or off-beats, disturbing the normal pattern of strong and weak beats.
Be silent — the performer does not play for an entire movement or extended section.
Pick up another instrument for the section that follows.
Tam-tam: the large, flat gong of indefinite pitch.
Printed as: T.-t., Tam-t.
Tambourine (French name).
Printed as: Tamb. de basque, T. de B.
Tambourine.
Printed as: Tamb.
Tambourine.
Printed as: Tamb.
Tambourine (German name).
Printed as: Tamb.
Drum (generic).
Printed as: Tamb., Tamb
Side drum (military drum).
Printed as: Tamb. mil., Tamb. milit.
Tenor drum: a deep drum, larger than the side drum and usually without snares, with a dark, rolling tone. In modern Italian rullante alone often means the snare drum, so check the instrument list.
So much, as much; as in non tanto.
Keyboard bass line played alone, without chord realisation.
Printed as: t.s.
To divide.
Theme; the subject of a set of variations.
Stormy, tempestuous.
The pace of the music; as a bare word it asks for the main tempo (like a tempo).
At a comfortable, unhurried pace.
In dance tempo.
In the tempo of a bolero.
In march tempo.
In the tempo and manner of a mazurka.
In the tempo of a minuet: moderate, graceful triple time.
In waltz tempo.
In the right, appropriate tempo — the natural speed the music’s character calls for — and, by extension, in strict time, without rubato.
Immediately back to the first tempo.
At a moderate tempo.
In an ordinary, moderate tempo; in 18th-century usage it can also mean common time (4/4) counted in four, as distinct from alla breve.
Return to the very first tempo of the piece (as opposed to the most recent tempo).
Printed as: Tempo I, Tempo I., Tempo 1, 1° Tempo
Return to the second tempo that the movement has established.
Printed as: Tempo II
In marching time.
Time: in mensural notation, the division of the breve into three semibreves (tempus perfectum, shown by a circle) or two (tempus imperfectum, shown by a half-circle).
Tender.
Tenderly.
Tenderly.
Tender: strictly the feminine plural of tenero, used as a character word (in Mahler’s Italian it translates zart). Not to be confused with the verb tenere, to hold, the root of tenuto.
Tenderness.
Tenor voice (French spelling).
Printed as: T., Ten.
Tenor drum.
Printed as: T. Dr.
Tenor trombone (English name).
Printed as: T. Tbn., Ten. Tbn.
Tenor: the high adult male voice; also the tenor line of a texture (tenore marcato in piano music) and the tenor size of an instrument (trombone tenore).
Printed as: T., Ten.
German Tenorhorn: the B-flat tenor-baritone bugle-family brass of German bands, used by Mahler in his Seventh Symphony; not the British brass-band tenor horn, which is the E-flat alto horn.
Tenor trombone (German name).
Held — sustain the note for its full written duration (or slightly longer). Marked with a horizontal line above or below the notehead.
Printed as: ten., ten
Fully held.
A three-part form (ABA) where the first section returns after a contrasting middle section.
The range in which most of a part’s notes lie — its prevailing register, as distinct from its highest and lowest notes. By extension, the register where a voice or instrument is most comfortable.
Theme: the German heading for the statement of a theme, especially the theme of a set of variations.
A complete musical idea — a melody with phrase structure, usually 8–16 bars, that serves as the primary material for a movement or section.
Next in order ("cresc., then dim.").
Organ stops sounding two octaves lower than written.
Printed as: 32 ft, 32′, 32'
The English term for the discipline of figured-bass realization. A composer or keyboardist trained in thoroughbass can read a figured bass line and produce the implied harmony in real time, voicing the upper parts smoothly above the given bass.
Timpani (French name). In Latin-American and popular music, timbales are a different instrument: a pair of shallow, single-headed metal-shelled drums played with sticks.
Printed as: Timb.
Timpani (kettledrums).
Printed as: Timp., Tmp., Timp, Tmp
Direction of change ("accel. to Presto", "B♭ to B♮").
On the pass after a D.C. or D.S., jump from this mark to the Coda (marked with the coda sign); it is ignored the first time through.
The home pitch and chord (I) of a key — the point of rest and resolution toward which all other harmonies gravitate.
Briefly treating a non-tonic chord as a temporary tonic by preceding it with its own dominant (secondary dominant). Shorter and less committed than modulation.
Always, still; the French counterpart of sempre.
All, tutti.
All, quite; "tout à fait" means "entirely".
Drag.
Calm, tranquil.
Tranquilly, calmly — with peaceful, undisturbed character.
Writing music at a different pitch than it sounds. Transposing instruments (clarinet in B♭, horn in F) read notes that differ from the concert pitch they produce.
Held back, restrained; close in sense to ritenuto.
Dreamy.
Three strings: release the soft pedal and return to the normal sound.
Printed as: t.c.
Trembling; played with a tremolo effect.
Rapid repetition of a single note (measured or unmeasured) or rapid alternation between two notes. A fundamental string orchestra texture.
Printed as: trem., trem
Very; intensifies the direction that follows ("très lent").
Very animated.
Very decided.
Very soft and gentle.
Very discreet, almost vanishing.
Very much to the fore.
Very expressive.
Very light.
Very slow.
Very smoothly joined.
Very moderate.
Much slowed.
Very held back.
Very sustained.
Very lively.
Triangle (German name).
Printed as: Triang., Trgl.
Triangle.
Printed as: Tri., Trgl.
Triangle.
Printed as: Trgl., Triang., Tri.
Rapid alternation between a written note and the note above it. Notated with "tr" or a wavy line.
Printed as: tr, tr.
Trill: the Italian name for the ornament, marked tr. In early 17th-century Italian singing (Caccini) the trillo was instead a rapid repetition of a single note.
Printed as: tr, tr.
The contrasting middle section of a minuet or scherzo.
Triumphal.
Sad.
Sad and monotonous.
Sadness.
Three strings (soft pedal off).
Trumpet.
Printed as: Tr., Tr
Trombone.
Printed as: Trb., Trbn., Trbni., Tbn.
Bass trombone.
Alto trombone.
Tenor trombone.
Trumpet (German name).
Printed as: Tr., Trp., Trpt., Tromp.
Trumpet (French name).
Printed as: Tr., Trp., Trpt., Tromp.
Too much; "pas trop" means "not too".
Too much; as in non troppo.
Defiant.
Trumpet (English name).
Printed as: Tpt., Trpt., Trp., Tr., Tpt
Tuba.
Printed as: Tb., Tba.
Tenor tuba: usually the euphonium-type tuba in B-flat (Holst’s The Planets, Strauss’s Don Quixote); in Wagner and Bruckner, Tenortuben are the B-flat Wagner tubas.
Printed as: T. Tba.
Tubular bells.
Printed as: Tu. Be.
Tumultuous, turbulent.
An ornament that circles the written note: upper neighbour, note, lower neighbour, note.
Turn the page.
Turn the page quickly.
All the strings: release the soft pedal.
All performers playing together — the full ensemble.
All smoothly joined.
A, one; as in "un poco", "un pochettino".
A little; softens the direction that follows.
A little accented.
A little animated.
A little to the fore.
A little less slow.
A little more animated.
A little slower.
A little faster.
A little pressed.
A little held back.
A little; softens the direction it precedes.
One string: the soft pedal is pressed so that a note sounds on a single string.
Printed as: u.c.
And; joins two directions.
One string (soft pedal on).
All performers playing or singing the same pitch simultaneously (or at the octave).
Unison: the instruments of a divided section play the same line.
Printed as: unis., unis
Imperceptibly.
Restlessly moving.
Draw the bow upward, from the tip toward the frog.
Original tempo.
Waltz.
Slow waltz.
A varied restatement of a theme.
Printed as: Var.
Variation.
Printed as: Var., Var
Swift, rapid; asks for speed and lightness rather than weight.
Extremely fast.
Fading away, dying out.
Dying out.
A stanza of a strophic text.
Dizzily, whirling.
To a high degree; intensifies the direction that follows.
Very quick with a light touch.
At a very slow pace.
Mutes off.
Printed as: via sord.
Vibraphone.
Printed as: Vib.
Vibrant, ringing.
Vibraphone.
Printed as: Vib.
A rapid, slight oscillation in pitch that adds warmth and expressiveness to sustained notes.
Printed as: vib.
See: marks the start and end of a passage that may be cut ("vi-de").
Much bow: use a long portion of the bow for each stroke.
Change bow often, with much bow for each stroke.
Much tone; play with a full sound.
Lively, quick. The French equivalent of Vivace.
Vigorous.
Viola: the alto string instrument, written mostly in alto clef.
Printed as: Vla., Vla, Va., Vle.
Viola d’amore: a bowed instrument with sympathetic strings, used by Bach and Janáček.
Viol da gamba (bass viol): the fretted, bowed viol held between the knees.
The viola section.
Printed as: Vlas.
Violin (German name).
Printed as: Vl., Vln., Viol.
Violin.
Printed as: Vl., Vln., Vn., Viol., Vni.
The violin section.
Printed as: Vlns., Vlns
Violin (French name).
Printed as: Vl., Vln., Vons
Violoncello (German spelling).
Printed as: Vcl., Vc., Vcelle.
Violoncello (French name).
Printed as: Vcelle., Vcelles.
Violoncello (cello).
Printed as: Vc., Vcl., Vlc., Vc, Vcl, Vlc
Violone: the large baroque bass viol or double-bass-like instrument.
Printed as: Vne., Vne
Quickly, fast.
Lively and fast, typically 156–176 BPM. Implies spirited energy.
Lively, in march style.
Very lively.
Lively and agitated.
Lively, but not too much so.
Extremely lively.
Briskly, with life.
Lively, brisk; close in meaning to vivace, used alone or with another word (Allegro vivo, Meno vivo).
Voice: a vocal line or part; also a contrapuntal part (a tre voci, in three parts), and the word inside sotto voce, mezza voce and colla voce.
Printed as: Vo.
A vocal line.
The way individual voices move from one chord to the next — the horizontal (melodic) aspect of harmonic progression.
Voice; a vocal part or an inner voice in the music.
Flying, with light, quick motion.
Time (in the sense of occurrence). Prima volta = first time. Seconda volta = second time. Used with repeat brackets to indicate different endings.
Turn the page quickly.
Printed as: V.S., v.s.
Prepare: get ready to change instrument or mute.
Previous tempo.
A grace note or appoggiatura before the main note. Literally "before-stroke."
Forward; press on.
Wagner tuba: the tenor and bass tubas devised for The Ring and used by Bruckner and Strauss.
Warm in tone and feeling; the same word in German and English scores.
Wistful, sad with longing.
Soft, smooth in manner.
Softer, more gentle.
Tearfully.
A little; slightly.
Little bow: use only a short portion of the bow.
Less; the comparative marker in directions that ask for a decrease.
Whip (slapstick).
Played or sung as quietly as a whisper.
As, like; "wie vorher", "wie oben".
As above.
As before.
As at the beginning.
Again; "wieder langsam" is back to the slow tempo.
Back in tempo.
Wild, untamed.
Wind machine.
Wind machine.
The woodwind and brass players as a group.
The English counterpart of con ("with mute").
With the sustaining pedal and the soft pedal together.
Expressively.
Struck with a metal beater.
Play with the mute on.
Passionately.
The English counterpart of senza ("without mute").
Play with the mute off.
Go on without a break.
Do not breathe between the marked notes.
Well, indeed; presumably. Rare as a marking: met inside longer German instructions and footnotes (wohl aber, ‘but certainly’).
Women’s voices of a chorus.
Wood block.
Sticks with wooden heads.
The woodwind section as a group.
Printed as: Ww.
Weighty, heavy with force.
Xylophone.
Printed as: Xil., Xyl.
Xylophone.
Printed as: Xyl.
Tender, delicate — with extreme gentleness.
Tenderly moving.
Take time; allow room for the phrase.
Tempo, pace (literally "time-measure").
Zealous.
Rather quick.
Rather slow.
Rather brisk.
Rather fast.
Hesitating.
Too (nicht zu schnell, not too fast); also “to” (zu Tempo I zurückkehren). In wind and brass parts zu 2 or zu 3 puts two or three players on the same line (= a 2).
For two: both players of the pair play the line.
For the close: heads a closing section or coda (Schumann’s Arabeske); in bis zum Schluss it means ‘until the end’.
Increasing.
Holding back.
Two bassoons.
Second violins.
Printed as: Zweite Viol., II. Viol., 2. Viol.
Second time: the ending for the second pass.