Some music terms

I am going to cover some music terms that are good to know in this post!
Hope it helps!

Accelerando: Gradually getting faster

Accent: Stressed note, you should highlight this note

(accent)

Adagio: A slow tempo in between andante and largo, about 66-76 BPM

Ad libitum: At the liberty of the performer

Allargando: Broadening, becoming slower

Alla,alle,all': In the style of

Allegretto: Fairly fast, slower than allegro, about 112-120 BMP

Allegro: Fast and bright, about 120-168 BMP

Andante: At a Walking pace, moderately slow, about 76-108 BMP

Animato: Animated

Arco: Resume to bowing after pizzicato

Assai: Very

Attaca: Proceed without a break

A Tempo: Return to original tempo

Ben: Well

Brilliante: Brilliant

Cantabile: In a singing style, lyrical

Col,colla,con,coll',colle': With

Coll 8va: With add octave

Comodo: At a comfortable easy speed

Con: With

Con brio: With vigour

Con expression: With expression

Con fuoco: With fire

Con Grazia: With grace

Con moto: With motion

Con Pedale "ped.": With Pedal

Con Sordino: With the mute

Crescendo"cresc.": Gradually getting louder

Da Capo, D.C.: Repeat from the beginning

Dal Segno, D. S. : Repeat from the sign

Decrescendo"decresc" + Diminuendo "dim": Gradually getting softer

Dolce: Sweet, Gentle

Dolente: Sadly

E,ed: And

Espressivo "espress": Expressively

Fermata: Hold the tone, hold longer then note value + 1/2

(Fermata)

Forte (f): Loud 

Fortissimo (ff): Very loud

Forte Piano (fp): Loud, then suddenly soft

Giocoso: Humorously

Grandioso: Grandly

Grave: Extremely slow & broad

Grazioso: Graceful

Largamente: Broadly

Largo: Very slow, about 40-60 BMP

Legato: Smoothly, bound

Leggiero: Light

Lento: Slow

Lístesso tempo: At the same speed

Loco: In the original place of

Ma: But

Maestoso: Majestic

Marcato: Marked or stressed 

Mano destra M.D.: Right hand

Mano sinistra M.S.: Left hand 

Martellato: Hammered, strong

Meno: Less

Meno mosso: Less quickly

Mesto: Sadly, mournfully

Moderato: At a moderate pace, about 108-120 BMP

Molto: Much, very

Mezzo forte (mf): Moderately loud

Mezzo piano (mp): Moderately soft

M.M.: Malzeló metronome 

Non: Without, not

Non Troppo: Not too much

Ottava, 8va, 8vb: Play one octave higher or lower

Pesante: Weighty, with emphasis

Piano (p): Soft

Pianissimo (pp): Very soft

Piú: More

Piú mosso: Quickly

Poco: Little

Poco a poco: Little by little

Presto: Very fast, about 168-200 BMP

Prestissimo: As fast as possible, about 200-208 BMP

Quasi: In the manner of

Rallentando"rall" + Ritardando"rit" : Gradually slowing down

Repeat sign: Repeat music within the double bars

Rubato: Flexible, giving and taking

Sempre: Always

Senza: Without

Slur: Play notes legato

Sonore: Sonorously

Sostenuto: Sustained

Sotto Voce: Soft Whisper

Staccato ( . ): Sharply detached

Strepitoso: Loud, noisy

Stringendo: Pressing faster

Subito: Suddenly

Sul ponticello: On the bridge

Tacet: Be silent

Tempo: Time, Speed of the music, Speed at which the music is performed

Tempo Primo ( Tempo I ): First Tempo, Return to first tempo

Tempo Rubato: "robbed" time

Tenuto: Hold the note

Tie: Hold for combine the note values

Transquillo: Quietly

Troppo: Too much

Tutti: All performers are to play

Una Corda: One string

Vivace: Lively, quick, about 168-176 BMP

Vivo: Lively

Volta: Time (Prima volta: First time)

Volti Subito ( V.S.): Turn page quickly

Hope this helped you, if you have any questions ask me on Olivia.Walter.Musictheory@gmail.com or just leave a comment.

Have a good time!

/ Olivia :)

 

Lesson two - Note values

Hi everyone! In this lesson am I going to cover Note values, I think this will be a shorter lesson than lesson 1. We are going to cover the 5 most basic note values and their rests we are also going to cover dotted notes!

All notes has a “silence brother” a rest, simply a pause were you stop playing for the amount of note value that the rest represents.

This is a quarter note and its rest, which has the note value: 1 beat   worth:  1

Next we have the half note and its rest, which has the note value: 2 beats worth: 2

Next one is the Whole note and its rest, which has the note value: 4 beats  worth: 4

Next one is the eighth note and its rest, which has the note value: ½ beat worth: 0.5

The last one I take is the sixteenth note and its rest, which has the note value: ¼ beat worth: 0.25

•     The half note is half of the whole note

•     The quarter note is half of the half note and ¼ of the whole note

•   The eighth note is half of the quarter note, ¼ of the half and 1/8 of the Whole note

•     The sixteenth note is half of the eighth note, ¼ of the quarter , 1/8 of the half, and 1/16 of the     whole note

·

Here I made it more clearly with the beats under the note values. Our piece is in 4/4 time signature, which means 4 quarter note values per bar.

DOTTED NOTES:

The length of a dotted note is the main notes value + half of its value.

·         A half note has the note value 2 if we take half of it = 2/2 = 1, means a dotted half note is as long as a half note + a quarter note     Worth: 1+2= 3

·         A quarter note has the note value 1 if we take half of it = 1/2 = 0.5 , which means a dotted quarter note is as long as a quarter note + a eighth note  Worth: 1+0.5= 1.5

·         A eight note has the note value 0.5 if we take half of it = 0.5 /2= 0.25, which means a dotted eighth note is as long as an eighth note + a sixteenth note Worth: 0.5+0.25=0.75

·         A sixteenth note has the note value 0.25 if we take half of it = 0.25/2 = 0.125, which means a dotted sixteenth note is as long as a sixteenth note + a thirty-second note Worth: 0.25 + 0.125 = 0.375

!Note: the thirty-second note is as long as half the sixteenth note!

I hope you understood everything in this lesson and that it helped you, if you have questions ask me on Olivia.Walter.Musictheory@gmail.com or just leave a comment!

Have a nice day! See you in the next lesson!

/ Olivia J