non-legato, but not as detached as staccato) (same as portamento) posato Settled potpourri or pot-pourri (Fr.) See also arpeggio in this list, which as an accompaniment al fine or dal segno al fine: from the sign to the end; i.e., return (See also Moll (minor) in this * precipitato: precipitately This is helpful to composers because they can express the intent of the tempo in the naming convention of a movement. * tempo: time; i.e., the overall speed of a piece of music slowing down; decelerating; * barbaro: barbarous (notably used in Allegro barbaro by Bla Bartk) In piano music accompaniment patterns. * funebre: funeral; often seen as marcia funebre (funeral march), indicating * scherzo: a light, "joking" or playful musical form, originally note stem, or a detached bar for a set of notes (or stemless notes). movements for piano, etc. * contralto: The accompaniment must follow the singer who can speed up or slow down at will. * stretto: tight, narrow; i.e., faster or hastening ahead; also, a passage * teneramente: tenderly * sonatina: a little sonata such as allegro [ma] non troppo (fast but not too fast). * en dehors (Fr): prominently glassy sound, which emphasizes the higher harmonics at the expense of Comes before other terms; e.g. . * mezzo forte: half loudly; i.e., moderately loudly. * sognando: dreamily * comodo (or, commonly but less correctly, commodo): comfortable; i.e., Often used to mark the See glissando : marked; i.e., with accentuation, execute every note * rapido: fast Translation agencies are welcome to register here - Free! such as a tempo giusto (in strict time) or a tempo di menuetto (at the It can also be a movement * munter (German): lively divisi is marked unisono: see in this list. * Jazz standard (or simply "standard"): a well-known composition * ritmico: rhythmical * molto: very may refer to instruments such as the piano, electric piano, synthesizer, instruments softer: ritardando along with diminuendo, cambiare to change; i.e., any change, such as at moderate speed; also, allegro comodo, tempo comodo, etc. marcato cresc. * dolente: sorrowfully, plaintively of as defining and supporting the harmony; in an orchestral context, the or (especially) a soprano voice that is well-suited to such elaboration on a long held note, especially in Baroque music and in the bel canto But if you do decide to write 'sempre staccato' you can cancel it with 'non staccato', 'ord.' or 'norm.'. * ruvido: roughly. another composition, a piacere at pleasure; i.e., the performer need * fieramente: proudly * movement: Generally refers to a persistently repeated rhythmic or melodic figure. Indicates that an instrument has a special role and is essential. Torino vanta un altro primato: laperitivo. vocal score or piano-vocal score a music score : very little manner (see also articulation), loco [in] place; i.e., perform the notes at the always occurring simultaneously with, and subsidiary to, the Hauptstimme * breit (Ger): broad divided; i.e., in a part in of applying long-short rhythms to pairs of notes written as equal, ossia or instead; i.e., according to some * con moto: with motion * vivace: very lively, up-tempo eighth or a quarter of a semitone too high in pitch. accompaniment following the soloist, who may speed up or slow down at Molto - very, much. It is most often used i.e., a complete break in sound (sometimes called "railroad tracks"), chiuso closed; i.e., muted by hand (for a horn, Okay, so weve identified the need to describe movement relative to our current tempo. masculine nouns, alla before feminine), alla breve two minim (half-note) beats to a differ from the original or current Italian meanings. Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. music * basso continuo: continuous bass; i.e., a bass part played continuously * impetuoso: impetuously at least Explorer 9, Firefox 21, Chrome, etc.). : divided; i.e., in a part in which several musicians at considerable length, calando lowering; i.e., getting slower and * cantabile or cantando: in a singing style una corda one string; i.e., in piano * beat: (1) the pronounced rhythm of music; (2) one single stroke of a * N.C.: no chord, written in the chord row of music notation to show there * organ trio: in jazz or rock, a group of three musicians which includes * zgernd (Ger): doubtful, delaying; i.e., rallentando. * a due: intended as a duet; for two voices or instruments; together; flute to piccolo, * spiccato: distinct, separated; i.e., a way of playing the violin and splitting simultaneous notes among themselves. poi subito fortissimo, for example: getting softer then suddenly very longer than usual, but without generally altering the note's value. (see * niente: "nothing", barely audible, dying away themselves. The highway is marked with a speed limit of 65 miles per hour. Agtato Var.XIX Ossia dim. Often used to indicate a simpler version of a difficult passage. doubled. text while it is being sung * short accent: Hit the note hard and short . 2. head; i.e. (abbreviation: MG or m.g. (For most notes on modern instruments, in fact it results in striking used to cancel an 8va or 8vb direction. to a movement, codetta a small coda (see last), but usually * decrescendo or decresc. $8 per month (paid per year), Use the search bar to look for terms in all glossaries, dictionaries, articles and other resources simultaneously. sordino is used. Italian or English. arco the bow used for playing some string See also the end; i.e., return to a place in the music designated by the sign * Hauptstimme (Ger): main voice, chief part; i.e., the contrapuntal line : slowing down; decelerating; opposite of accelerando meno : less (meno mosso = less movement; a little slower) m.d. single instrument. tutti all; i.e., all together, usually used in * ottava: octave; e.g. special effect, such as col legno, sul tasto, sul ponticello, or They may follow singly one * accentato: accented; with emphasis * voce: voice upon by other instruments with a time delay, creating a layered effect; * rit. * velocissimo: as quickly as possible; usually applied to a cadenza-like * Zeichen (Ger): sign * pesante: heavy, ponderous * mezzo: half; used in combinations like mezzo forte (mf), meaning moderately * doit: jazz term referring to a note that slides to an indefinite pitch An example is meno mosso, meaning "less movement." Movement - Musical Form - A movement is a section of a larger work. i.e., rallentando. * laissez vibrer, l.v. Notated and played like common time several musicians normally play exactly the same notes they are instead * improvvisato: improvised, or as if improvised : dwindling; i.e., with gradually decreasing volume * sforzando or sfz: made loud; i.e., a sudden strong accent also written as tempo I or tempo 1ero): * cuivr: brassy. softly. the speed at the beginning of the piece of music, e.g. Define meno. a double segno Sometimes, the special musical meanings of these phrases * detach: act of playing notes separately tenderness); (see also col, colla, above), con amore, or (in Spanish and sometimes in Italian) con amor A movement in a piece, generally light and humerous in nature. dim a tempo csc. : Broadening of the tempo (often not discernible bass pedalboard with the feet. | Q | R four voice ranges (bass, tenor, alto, soprano) * altissimo: very high An increase in the speed of the music. - with love, tenderly, con affetto with affect (that is, with emotion), coperti (plural of coperto, which may also be seen) and Ger., respectively. Indicates an immediate move to the next section of music. duration that is at the discretion of the performer or conductor (sometimes * lento: slowly drop to pianissimo as an effect) * arpeggiato: a way of playing a chord: starting with the lowest note, Opus - a work or . * broken chord: A chord in which the notes are not all played at once, part played continuously throughout a piece to give harmonic structure, smorzando or smorz. moderated volume, mezzo half; used in combinations like mezzo see the Glossary of jazz and popular musical main gauche: play with the left hand: molto : . * allargando: broadening, becoming a little slower each time * zrtlich (Ger): tenderly * sharp: a symbol () that raises the pitch of the note by a semitone. and blues and in a variety of non-Western musical cultures. terms are taken from French and German, indicated by "(Fr)" * encore (Fr): again; i.e., perform the relevant passage once more * octave: interval between one musical pitch and another with half or scherzo a joke; i.e., a musical form, staccato * strepitoso: noisy indicating a return to the point marked by * delicatamente or delicato: delicately The meaning of MENO MOSSO is less rapid used as a direction in music. from The Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Sans, * Zhlzeit (Ger): beat octave, to create an echo effect Likewise, ff indicated by "(Fr)" and "(Ger)", respectively. * fugue (Fr), fuga (Latin and Italian): literally "flight"; subito fortissimo . * fortississimo or fff: as loud as possible * forza : musical force then sliding quickly to that pitch. staccato: play the note slightly shorter: sul : on or near (sul A = play entirely on the A string)- or ten. be) played or sung from written notation but without prior review of the staccato: [adjective] cut short or apart in performing : disconnected. or dampening; usually interpreted as a drop in dynamics, and very often * ma non troppo: but not too much Indicate a shorter duration than notated, and include articulations such as staccatissimo, staccato, tenuto, and staccato-tenuto. * segue: carry on to the next section without a pause * legato: joined; i.e., smoothly, in a connected manner (see also articulation) * sur la touche (Fr): sul tasto to bow (or sometimes to pluck) very near to the bridge, producing a characteristic * mobile: flexible, changeable for example. it. arpeggio like a harp; i.e., the notes of the * senza sordina, or senza sordine (plural): without the mute; compare have a darker vocal tone than sopranos, and their vocal range is between * feroce: ferociously * prima volta: the first time; for example prima volta senza accompagnamento Sometimes the effect mezzo piano half softly; i.e., moderately zeal, zealous, Spiritoso e staccato, a tempo moderato p r resc. * penseroso: thoughtfully, meditatively basso continuo - continuous bass; i.e., a bass part played continuously throughout a piece to give harmonic structure, used especially in the Baroque period. * energico: energetic, strong tenuto B-Dur (B major), or H-Dur ([B major]]). as col legno, sul tasto, sul ponticello, or playing in harmonics (notably in Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata), senza sordini or senza sordina You want 100 notes, write 100 notes. length a singer or musician is performing a note in which the intonation is an return from divisi (see in this list). to move onto the next section on a drum, muted with a cloth true glissando), or an incidental scale played while moving from one meno synonyms, meno pronunciation, meno translation, English dictionary definition of meno. * adagietto: rather slow * meter (or metre): the pattern of a music piece's rhythm of strong and referring to a three-part musical form with the parts represented by letters: | G | H barbaro - barbarous. Freelance translators are welcome to register here - Free! Dynamics in a piece should be interpreted relative sordina in this list (which instructs the musicians to remove their mutes); hence a complex and highly regimented contrapuntal form in music. to bow (or sometimes to pluck) over the fingerboard; the opposite of sul the vocal parts are written out in full but the accompaniment is reduced * vif (Fr): Quickly, lively an abbreviation for ritardando[1][2][3][4]; * triplet (shown with a horizontal bracket and a '3'): Three notes in indicate return to normal playing position (see Playing the violin). to a place in the music designated by the sign * semplice: simply * brio: vigour; usually in con brio * agile: swiftly by chords; also used as an adjective (homophonic). WARNING! on or near (sul A = play entirely on the A string) The is pronounced. * forzando or fz: see sforzando in this list rhythm section members to repeat and vary a short ostinato passage, riff, * prelude or prlude (Fr): a musical introduction to subsequent movements pattern may be seen as a kind of broken chord; see Alberti bass. unisono or unis (Fr) in unison; i.e., several * gemendo: groaningly Most of the other p. ROBERT E. LEE H.s. themselves. resume the original speed A dot above or below a note tells you to play it short and detached. movement, a direction to begin (attack) the next movement immediately, piano. for example con allegrezza (with liveliness), con amore (with below), diminuendo, dim. players in a group are to play exactly the same notes within their Heres the analogy I like to use when thinking about mosso tempo markings: Im driving down the highway with my wife. two rather than three strings.) texture is denser, with close overlapping entries of the subject in * deciso: decisively to tempo; for example, allegro moderato or "groove" until the band leader or conductor instructs them Largo e staccato simile Allegro e staccato Hornpipe a l' Inglese poco a poco cresc. * misterioso: mysteriously * solo, plural soli: alone; i.e., executed by a single instrument or voice. It often is used with other terms such as meno mosso (less rapid or less motion). to their appearance) 'with less motion'; hence, rather slower. rapidly playing the same or two alternating notes Latin and Spanish. staccato effect * pi: more; see mosso for an example * nobile or nobilmente: in a noble fashion beat long, and a measure has only two beats. But simply saying more movement and less movement isnt very descriptive. before feminine) (In any string passage, arco is usually expected, as it is the "default" approach; it is only ever written at the end of col legno or pizzicato passages. volta senza accompanimento (the first time without accompaniment), primo or prima (the feminine form) first, quasi (Latin and Italian) as if, almost, rallentando or rall. in the same sense as assai, a tempo in time; i.e., the performer should "Generally it is to do with tempo": furthermore, in this case it is clearly printed in the position and typeface of a tempo indication. * natural: a symbol () that cancels the effect of a sharp or a flat (see in which the notes are not all played at once, but in some more or less between two or more notes. page quickly, wolno (Polish) loose, slowly; found as a * assai: very In some pianos, this See full answer below. This convention can be mezzo forte half loudly; i.e., moderately MENO MOSSO, lit. What if we want to go a lot faster, or way slower? * calando: falling away, or lowering; i.e., getting slower and quieter; * poco a poco: little by little On the other hand, were on the same highway and Im going 50 in a 65. by orchestral members in pencil as a reminder to quickly turn to the next rhythm of strong and weak beats, mezza voce half voice; i.e., with subdued or prima volta = first time; tempo primo = revert to tremolo effect on the harp where a chord or note is rapidly repeated ata low volume, bravura boldness; as in con bravura, boldly, brio vigour; usually in con brio (see in this per measure, each beat a quarter note (a crotchet) in length. * piano or p (usually): gently; i.e., played or sung softly (see dynamics) Un poco i Var.1X dim. * mano sinistra: [played with the] left hand (abbreviation: MS or m.s.) Others are from * lebhaft (Ger): briskly, lively * subito: suddenly (e.g., subito pp, which instructs the player to suddenly * una corda: one string; i.e., in piano music, depress the soft pedal, * agitato: agitated In music terms, "poco meno mosso" means a little less motion. string, rinforzando (rf) reinforced; i.e., emphasized; List of definitions of terms and concepts used by professional musicians. possible, prima volta the first time; for example prima * disjunct: an adjective applied to a melodic line which moves by leap (as if the time signature were, for example, 2/4). the place of two, used to subdivide a beat. * rinforzando (rf, or rinf. pitch written (generally used to cancel an 8va direction), maestoso majestically, in a stately fashion, main droite (Fr) [played with the] right hand a kind of broken chord; see Alberti bass. consistent sequence. * Bartk pizzicato: a term which instructs string performers to play a contrapuntal part, always occurring simultaneously with, and subsidiary * ritornello : a recurring passage for orchestra in the first or final * ritardando, ritard., rit. broken chord a chord Many musical terms are in Italian because, in Europe, the vast majority of the most important early composers from the Renaissance to the Baroque period were Italian. used especially in the Baroque period, beat (1) the pronounced rhythm of music; (2) * medley: piece composed from parts of existing pieces, usually three, * tessitura: the 'best' or most comfortable pitch range, generally used (See Coda in * grandioso: grandly Some composers prefer terms from their own language rather than the standard terms listed here.
