Terms and Symbols

Most definitions are taken from The Norton/Grove Concise Encyclopedia of Music.

Early Elementary
p: soft. mp: medium-soft. mf: medium-loud. f: loud.

Late Elementary
common time ( ): 4/4 time (a time signature indicating four quarter note beats per measure). crescendo: (getting louder). decrescendo or diminuendo: (getting softer). dynamics: instructions that indicate the volume of sound. interval: the distance between two notes. legato: connected smoothly. pickup/upbeat: a beat coming before the downbeat (first beat of the measure), sometimes found in an incomplete measure at the beginning of a piece. slur: a curved line extending over a group of notes, indicating a legato touch. staccato: short, not connected. tie: a curved line between two notes of the same pitch indicating that they should be performed as a single note with their values combined. triad: a three-note chord consisting of two intervals of a third. : sharp (raise the pitch one half-step). : flat (lower the pitch one half-step).

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: double bar (signals the end of a piece). : repeat sign.

Early Intermediate
cut time ( ): 2/2 time (a time signature indicating two half note beats per measure). 8va: play an octave higher or lower than the indicated pitch. loco: back to the original octave after an 8va indication. (Italian for in its place.) key signature: the sharp or flat signs placed at the beginning of a composition or after a double bar which indicate the key of a piece. time signature: two numbers, one above the other, or a sign placed at the beginning of a composition to indicate its meter. ritardando: holding back, becoming slower. fermata: hold note or rest longer than its usual value. (Italian for pause.) a tempo: return to the original tempo. pp: very soft (pianissimo). ff: very loud (fortissimo).

Late Intermediate
AB form: form consisting of two contrasting parts. ABA form: form consisting of three parts, the second one contrasting with the first and third, which are identical or very similar. accent: emphasis given to a note by an increase in volume. allegro: quick and lively. andante: moderately slow, walking pace. D.C. al fine (Da capo al fine): play from the beginning to the word fine. (Italian for from the head to the end.) damper pedal: the right pedal on the piano, which raises the dampers on the strings so that all notes that are played continue to sound. moderato: moderate. natural: symbol placed before a note canceling a sharp or flat that would otherwise affect it. ostinato: the repetition of a musical pattern many times in succession. tempo: the speed of a composition. tenuto: a line placed above or below a note which indicates to hold the note its full value. whole-tone scale: a six-note scale consisting entirely of whole steps.

Early Advanced
accelerando: accelerating. adagio: slow. (Italian for at ease, leisurely.) cantabile: in a singing style.

chromatic: based on an octave of twelve half-steps. coda: the last part of a piece or melody. (Italian for tail.) D.S. al fine (Dal segno al fine): return to the sign and play until the fine. (Italian for from the sign to the end.) diatonic: based on an octave divided into seven tones (five whole-steps and two half-steps); for example, major and natural minor scales. dolce: sweet. dominant: the fifth step or degree of the major or minor scale. The dominant is V in Roman numeral notation. marcato: marked, stressed, accented. opus: a term used with a number to identify a work or group of works in a composers output. (Latin for work.) pentatonic: a scale with five different notes to the octave. poco: a little. primo: the first part in a piano duet. (Italian for first.) rallentando: becoming slower. ritenuto: an immediate reduction in speed (a more sudden, extreme slowing down than rallentando or ritardando). rondo form: a musical form in which the first or main section recurs between subsidiary sections and to conclude the composition. (ABACABA is an example.) secondo: the second part in a piano duet. (Italian for second.) sfz (sforzando): a strong accent. (Italian for forcing, compelling.) sostenuto pedal: the middle pedal on a grand piano which sustains only the notes being held at the time that the pedal is pressed.

sotto voce: an indication that a passage is to be played in a undertone, i.e., without emphasis.

(Italian for under the voice.) subdominant: the fourth step or degree of the major or minor scale. The subdominant is IV in Roman numeral notation. tonic: the main note of a key (its key note), after which the key is named. The tonic is I in Roman numeral notation. tre corda: indication to release the una corda pedal so that the hammers strike all the available strings. (Italian for three strings.) una corda pedal: the left pedal, or soft pedal, which shifts the hammers sideways on a grand piano or closer to the strings on a upright piano to produce a softer tone color. (Italian for one string.) vivace: vivacious, lively.

Late Advanced
con: with a piacere: an indication that the performer may use his discretion in the manner of performance, allargando: broadening. allegretto: a little slower than allegro. cadence: the conclusion or punctuation point in a musical phrase. cadenza: a virtuoso passage near the end of a concerto movement or aria. concerto: a work for a solo instrument and orchestra. (For example, a piano concerto.)
especially in the manner of tempo. (Italian for at pleasure.)

enharmonic: different ways of spelling the name of a note (e.g., C-sharp and D-flat). espressivo: expressive. largo: broad, slow. leading tone: the seventh step or degree of the major or minor scale. leggiero: light. maestoso: majestic. mediant: the third step or degree of the major or minor scale. meno mosso: slower (less motion). molto: much, very. morendo: dying away. pi mosso: faster (more motion). presto: quick, fast. (Faster than allegro.) rubato: slowing down, stretching or broadening of time for expressive effect. (Italian for stolen.) sempre: always. senza: without. sequence: pattern in which a phrase is repeated using the same intervals but at a different pitch level. simile: play as before. (Italian for similar.) sonata: a piece of music, almost always instrumental and usually in several movements, for a soloist or a small ensemble. (Different from sonata form.) subito: suddenly. submediant: the sixth step or degree of the major or minor scale. supertonic: the second step or degree of the major or minor scale.