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At a slow pace.
An adverb in English directions — slowly, very slowly, slowly and quietly — printed above the staff as a heading or within a longer phrase. As a heading it holds until the next tempo word; inside a phrase it governs only the action it describes.
Close to Slow, but the adverb describes the manner of playing rather than naming a tempo category, so it pairs naturally with other adverbs (slowly and freely). Add a metronome figure if the speed matters. Do not confuse it with a change of speed: slowly sets a pace, while gradually slower or ritardando alters one.
Slowly is one of 1755 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary: the words, abbreviations and instrument names that appear in printed scores, plus the vocabulary composers use to talk about them.
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