Musical Glossary

A cappella – Choral music without instrumental accompaniment.

Accelerando – Becoming faster.

Accidental – Sign of chromatic alternation, momentarily introduced for single notes or measures.

Adagio – Slow, tranquil.

Agogic – Denoting all the subtleties of performance achieved by modification of tempo.

Alla Marcia – In march style.

Allegretto – Quite lively, moderately fast (faster than Andante, slower than Allegro).

Allegro – Lively, rapid.

Andante – Moving, moderately slow.

Andantino – A little faster than Andante.

Appoggiatura – Note of embellishment, grace note.

Attack – The speed with which an organ speaks ; time between the playing of a note and the resulting tone.

Augmented Interval – Interval increased by a half step.

Aria – An elaborate solo song.

Arpeggio – Notes of a chord when played one after another.

A tempo – Return to the original rate of speed.

Cantabile – In a singing style.

Chromatic scale – Composed of successive half steps.

Coda – A concluding section added to a composition.

Con brio – With vigor and spirit.

Con moto – With movement.

Consonance – A combination of tones in agreement of sound.

Counterpoint – A study of melodies and their interrelationships.

Da capo al fine – Repeat from the beginning to the end (D.C).

Dal Segno al fine – Repeat from the sign( ) to the end (D.S).

Decay – The time during which one or more sustained notes die away.

Diminished Interval – Interval decreased by a half step.

Diapason – A flue-pipe work of the organ which forms the backbone of each manual ; the characteristic full (foundation) sound of the organ.

Diatonic – Denoting the natural scale consisting of five whole steps and two half steps, e.g. as it is produced on the white keys of the keyboard.

Dissonance – A combination of tones in disagreement, unrestful, needing a consonance to follow for completeness.

Dolce – Sweet, soft.

Duet – Composition for or rendition by two performers.

Dynamic marks – Words, signs, etc., indicating degree of sound volume.

Etude – A study, primarily designed to aid the student in the development of his mechanical and technical ability.

Fine – Close, end.

Flat – Sign (b) which indicates lowering the pitch of a note by a halt step.

Forte (f) – Loud.

Fortissimo (ff) – Very loud.

Glissando – The execution of rapid scales by a sliding movement of the hand or finger over the keys.

Half Step – Next adjacent key up or down.

Harmonics – Over-tones (or integral multiples of fundamental frequency) that make up tone color.

II canto ben marcato – The melody played very distinctly.

Largo – Extremely slow, broad.

Lento – Slow

Legato – Connected, smooth.

Ledger lines – Lines added above or below the staff for those notes too high or low to be represented on the staff.

Meno – Less.

Mezzo – Half.

Mezzo forte (mf) – Moderately loud.

Mezzo piano (mp) – Moderately soft.

Misterioso – In a style suggestive of mystery.

Moderato – Moderate rate of speed.

Molto – Much.

Non tanto – Not so much.

Octave – Interval embracing eight diatonic tones; e.g. C to C, up or down.

Percussion – Pertaining to those instruments which are sounded by striking or shaking.

Perdendo – Gradually dying away. Perfect Interval – The unison, 4th, 5th and octave which retain the same character when inverted.

Pesante – Heavy.

Piano (p) – Soft.

Pianissimo (pp) – Very soft.

Poco a poco – Little by little

Presto – Very quick.

Prestissimo – As fast as possible.

Primo – First.

Rallentando – Gradually growing slower (rall.).

Rinforzando – A sudden stress applied to a single note or chord.

Ritardando – Gradually growing slower (rit.).

Ritenuto – Immediate reduction of speed.

Root – That note on which a chord is built.

Secondo – Second.

Semplice – Simple.

Sempre – Always.

Senza – Without.

Sforzando (sfz) – A sudden and strong accent on a single note or chord.

Sharp – The sign (#) which indicates a raising of a note by a half step.

Smorzando – Dying away.

Solfeggio – Singing the degrees of the scale by syllables (usually DO, RE, MI, etc.).

Sopra – Above.

Sotto – Under.

Strepitoso – Noisy.

Stringendo – Quickening.

Subito – Suddenly.

Syncopation – Any deliberate upsetting of the normal pulse of meter, accent, and rhythm.

Tacet – Is silent.

Tanto – Much, so much.

Tempo – Rate of speed of a composition.

Teneramente – Tenderly.

Tenuto – Hold, sustain.

Timbre – The color or quality of tone.

Timoroso – Timid, fearful.

Triad – Three-toned chord : root, third, and fifth.

Troppo – Too much.

Turn – An embellishment consisting of four or five notes (usually a principal note played in alternation with its higher and lower auxiliary).

Tremolo – The continuous quick reiteration of the same tone, or the alternation of a tone and its octave, third, fifth (sometimes denotes a light fluctuation of pitch, i.e. vibration).

Tremulant – A mechanical organ device which produces pulsations of tone. Una corda – In piano, a direction to use the left (soft) pedal.

Unison – The pseudo-interval formed by a tone and its duplication.

Veloce – Quick.

Vibrato – A continuous fluctuation of pitch used to increase the emotional quality of tone.

Vivace – Lively, brisk.

Vivo – Lively.

Whole step – Two half steps.