Music Dictionary - Advance

A
Accelerando: Gradually get faster
Accidental: A sharp , or flat , or natural sign
Alla Marcia: March tempo
a tempo: Return to the original tempo
Accent (>): Play the note louder
Adagio: Slow, leisurely. Slower than andante, but not as slow as largo, mm = 66-76
Agitato: Agitated, irritated
Andante: Walking tempo, mm = 76-100
Andantino: Slightly faster than andante, mm = 84-106
Animato: Animated, with energy
Allegretto: Quickly, but not as fast as allegro, mm = 116-120
Allegro: Quickly, lively, mm = 120-146
Allargando: Growing slower and more majestic
Arpeggio: A broken chord
Assai: Very
Atonal: Having no tonal center or key
Avant-garde: Describes composers who depart from musical tradition
B
Bass Clef : Used for the lower notes, notes around middle C or below
Brio: Vigor, spirit, with life
C
Cadence: A harmonic progression indicating the end of a phrase or piece
Cadenza: An improvised solo
Cantabile: In a singing style
Cantando: In a singing style
Chamber music: A piece written for piano, violin and cello
Chord: 2 or more notes played at the same time
Coda : An extra ending section of a composition
Common time : 4 beats to the measure
Composer: The person who wrote the music, ex. Bach or Beethoven
Con: With
Concerto: An orchestral piece where a solo instrument is spotlighted
Con moto: With movement
Crescendo (cresc.): Growing louder little by little
 D
D.C. al Coda: Return to the beginning and play to the sign that says “To Coda”, then skip to the coda sign 
D.C. (Da Capo) al Fine: Return to the beginning (capo) and play to the end (fine)
D.S. (Del Segno) al Fine: Return to the sign (segno) and play to the end
Decrescendo (Decr.): Growing softer little by little
Development: The middle section of a sonata or sonatina
Diminuendo (Dim.): Growing softer little by little
Dissonance: Clashing notes which make the other notes sound better
Dolce: Sweetly
Dominant: Fifth note of the scale
Double bar : Shows that you are at the end of a piece of music
Double flat : Lowers the pitch of a note by 2 half steps but keeps the same letter name.
Example: C is the same key as B
Double sharp : Raises the pitch of a note by 2 half steps but keeps the same letter name.
Example: C is the same as D
Dynamics: Any symbols that tell you how loudly or softly to play.
From very very soft to very very loud
E
Enharmonic: One key or note with 2 different names (C # and D are enharmonic equivalents)
Espressivo: Expressively, with feeling
Exposition: The beginning section of a sonata or sonatina
F
Flat : Lowers the note one half step or the very next key lower
Fermata : Hold a note or rest longer than its value
Fine {fin’ ney: The end
Forte : Loud
Fortissimo : Very loud
Fortississimo : Very very loud
Fugue: A piece of music of contrapuntal style, based on a theme, with more than one voice.

Function: The identification of chords with respect to scale degrees

Example: The function of a G major chord in the key of C major is that it is a V chord.
Fuoco: Fire
G
Grand Staff: 2 staves that are connected, almost all piano music uses this
Grazioso: Gracefully
Giocoso: With humor, a joke
Grave: Very slow and solemn, mm = 40
I
Interval: The distance between two notes – count lowest note, plus the highest note and all lines and
spaces in between. Example: D up to A is a 5th .
Major, minor, augmented and diminished intervals all use the same letter names, they just add
different or .
To change a major interval to augmented, raise the top note ½ step.
To change a major to minor, lower the top note ½ step.
To change a minor to diminished, lower the top note ½ step.
You may have to use double sharps or double flats .
Example: C to E is a Major 3rd. C to E is an Augmented 3rd. C to E is a minor 3rd. C to E is a diminished 3rd
K
Key signature : The or at the beginning of the song which tell you to play all the notes on that line
or space as or . Example: A flat at the beginning of the line will tell you to play all the Bs as B unless
there is a in front of the note.
To know which key the piece is in follow the following rules;
keys – go up a half step from the last or the farthest to the right - that is your key note
Example: F# C# G# D# - go up a half step from D#, you’re in the key of E Major
keys – go to 2nd to last flat from the right and go up a half step – that is your key note
Example: B E A D - 2nd to last is A - you’re in A Major
Order of Sharps: F C G D A E B Father Charles goes down and ends battle.
Order of Flats: B E A D G C F Battle ends and down goes Charles’ father.

L
Largo: Very slowly, like moving in slow motion, mm = 40-50
Largetto: Slow, slightly faster than Largo, mm 50-66
Leading tone: A note or chord built on the 7th note of the scale or scale degree
Legato: Smooth and connected, shown by a slur
Leggiero: Lightly
Lento: Slowly, mm = 40-60
Loco: Return to the original written note (go back to the original location)
M
Maestoso: Majestically, like a bride walking down an aisle
Marcato: Play with marked emphasis
M.M.: Metronome marking, the number = beats per minute
Meno: Less (think of minus)
Meter: Time signature
Mediant: A note or chord built on the 3rd note of the scale
Mezzo forte mf : Moderately loud
Mezzo Piano mp: Moderately soft
Moderato: Not too fast or too slow – medium tempo, mm = 106-116
Molto: Much, very
Morendo: Dying away in tempo and volume
Movement: A section of a larger piece of music such as in a Symphony or Sonatina, shown by changes in
tempo, time and key signatures and which can be played as a separate piece of music
Mosso: Movement
N
Natural Sign : Cancels a sharp or flat
O
Opus: A numbering system for different pieces of music
P
Parallel minor: A major and minor scale that use the same notes but have different key signatures
Phrase: A musical sentence many times shown by slurs
Programmatic music: music that paints a picture
Piano : Soft
Pianissimo : Very soft
Piano trio: A piece played by three pianos
Più: More
Poco: Little
Polyphony: Two voices that mix together to make harmony
Presto: Very fast, mm = 168-200
Prestissimo: As fast as possible, mm = 200+
R
Rallentando (rall.): Slowing down little by little, more deliberate than rit.
Recapitulation: The last section of a sonata or sonatina
Relative minor: Has the same key signature as a major scale – to find the relative minor scale from the
major scale, go down 3 half steps and vice versa

Repeat Sign : Go back to the nearest repeat sign, otherwise go back to the beginning and play again
Rest: A sign that equals a certain number of beats of silence:

In 4/4 time = = ½ beat = =1 = =2 = =3 = =4

Ritardando (rit.): Gradually slower
Rondo: A musical form where you keep returning to the main theme
Rubato: Borrowed time, speeding up and then slowing down or vice versa
S
Scherzando: Playfully
Scherzo: A composition in a light, playful manner
Sequence: An interval pattern repeated on different notes
Sempre: Always
Senza: Without
Sforzando sfz : To play with sudden force or energy
Sharp # : Raises the note 1 half step
Simile: In a similar manner
Sonata-allegro form: Exposition, development, recapitulation
Sostenuto {sauce ten new’ toe}: Sustained, the sostenuto pedal is the right foot pedal that holds the notes
Spirito: Spirited
Staccato: Sharply detached or separated, bouncy
Subdominant: A note or chord built on the 4th note of the scale
Submediant: A note or chord built on the 6th note of the scale
Subtonic: A note or chord built on the 7th note of the scale and lowered ½ step
Subito: Suddenly
Symphony: A piece played by an orchestra, usually with different movements
Syncopation: A long note on a weak beat, a rhythm that accents weak beats

T
Tempo: Speed of the music
Tenuto: Hold the note for its full value or accent the note a little

Tie : It makes two notes into one long note.

Time signature : The top number shows how many beats are in a measure, the bottom number shows
which note receives one beat. Example: 3 beats in a measure, a quarter note receives 1 beat
Tonic: A note or chord built on the 1st note of the scale

Treble clef : Used for the higher notes, those around middle C or above. Also known as the G clef

Triad: Three notes that are played at the same time or

Triad: 3 notes that are played at the same time, the bottom note is the name of the chord if it looks like a
snowman (line, line, line or space, space, space)

Trill : Moving back and forth between two notes, very quickly
Troppo: Too much
Tutti: All or all together, example: the whole group plays together
U
Upbeat note(s) or pickup notes: Notes that come before the first full measure
 V
Vivace: Quick, lively, and vivacious, mm = 146-168
Vivo: With life, energy
8va: Play notes one octave higher if the sign is above the notes, and one octave lower if the sign is below
the notes