Music Vocabulary
par Cheyenne VanNest
1. Tempo Changes
1.1. Accelerando: (accel.) gradually speeding up
1.2. Allargando: growing broader while decreasing in tempo
1.3. Meno Mosso: less movement, slower
1.4. Mosso: movement
1.5. Più Mosso: more movement, faster
1.6. Rallentando: (rall.) gradually slowing down
1.7. Ritardando: (rit. or ritard.) gradually slowing down but less than rallentando
1.8. Stringendo: pressing, faster, tighter
2. Articulations
2.1. Staccato: Separated and short
2.2. Tenuto: long and sustained
2.3. Accent: emphasis, strong attack
2.4. Marcato: with emphasis and aggression, shorter than accent
3. Styles
3.1. Pesante: heavy and ponderous
3.2. Largo: broadly (typically 40–60 bpm)
3.2.1. Larghetto: slighty quicker than largo
3.3. Mosso: movement
3.3.1. Più Mosso: quicker movement
3.3.2. Meno Mosso: less movement
3.4. Sostenuto: sustained, prolonged
3.5. Grandioso: great, grand
3.6. Dolce: sweetly
3.7. Cantabile: singing-like
3.8. Legato: smooth-flowing, connected
4. Additional Terms That You Will See in Your Music
4.1. Poco a poco: little by little, gradually
4.2. Molto: much
4.3. Meno: little
4.4. Fermata: a symbol that tells the player to hold the note as long as they would like
4.5. Con Sordino: with mute.
4.6. Senza Sordino: without mute. Usually only notated after a muted section.
4.7. Sempre: always
5. Tempos
5.1. Larghissimo: very, very slow (20 bpm and below)
5.2. Grave: slow and solemn (20–40 bpm)
5.3. Lento: slowly (40–60 bpm)
5.4. Adagio: slow and stately ("at ease") (66–76 bpm)
5.5. Adagietto: rather slow (70–80 bpm)
5.6. Andante: at a walking pace (76–108 bpm)
5.6.1. Andante Moderato: a bit slower than andante
5.6.2. Andantino: slightly faster than andante
5.7. Moderato: moderately (108–120 bpm)
5.8. Allegro: fast, quickly and bright (120–168 bpm)
5.8.1. Allegretto: moderately fast (but less so than allegro)
5.8.2. Allegro Moderato: moderately quick (112–124 bpm)