Contra Costa College Music Department
2600 Mission Bell Drive
San Pablo, California, USA 94806
(510) 235-7800
An Incomplete List of Musical Terms
- Accelerando
- Increase of speed in music
- Accent
- Stress of one tone over others, making it stand out; often it is the first beat of a measure
- Accompaniment
- Music that goes along with a more important part; often harmony or rhythmic patterns accompanying a melody.
- Adagio
- Slow, leisurely
- Allegretto
- Moderately fast, lively. Faster than Andante, slower than allegro
- Allegro
- Lively, brisk, rapid
- Andante
- Moderately slow, a walking speed
- Baroque
- Relating to the period from about 1600-1750, characterized by grandeur and heavy elaboration of design in music.
- Binary form
- Two-part form; the structure of a musical composition consisting of two main sections.
- Cadence
- Closing of a phrase or section of music
- Cantata
- A short lyric form dealing with either secular or sacred subjects
- Chord
- Three or more tones combined and sounded simultaneously
- Classical
- Referring to that period from approximately 1750-1800, characterized musically by objectivity of the composer, emotional restraint, and simple harmonies.
- Consonance
- A simultaneious sounding of tones that produces a feeling of rest, i.e., a feeling that there is no need for further resolution.
- Crescendo
- Gradually growing louder
- Da Capo
- From the beginning. A direction to repeat the entire compositon from the beginning to the place where the word "fine" appears or to the end.
- Diminuendo
- Gradually growing softer
- Dissonance
- A simultaneous sounding of tones that produces a feeling of tension or unrest and a feeling that further resolution is needed.
- Dolce
- Sweetly, softly
- Dynamics
- Varying intensities of sound throughout a given musical composition. (Piano, Mezzo Piano, Forte, etc.)
- Espressione
- Expressively
- Fermata
- A pause, stop, or interruption as that before the cadenza of a concerto.
- Fine
- The end of a musical piece
- Forte
- Loud, strong
- Fortissimo
- Very loud
- Grave
- Heavy, slow, pondereous in movement
- Gusto
- In good taste, tasteful
- Harmony
- The sound resulting from the simultaneous sounding of two or more tones consonant with each other
- Interval
- The distance between two tones
- Istesso tempo
- The same tempo. (The tempo remains as before, after a change was made)
- Legato
- Smooth, flowing
- Largo
- Large, broad, slow and stately
- Legato
- Smooth and connected
- Lento
- Slow
- Melody
- An arrangement of single tones in a meaningful sequence
- Maestoso
- Majestic, dignified
- Meno
- Less
- Mezzo forte
- Moderately loud
- Mezzo piano
- Moderately soft
- Molto, molta
- Much
- Obbligato
- Required, indispensable
- Ostinato
- A repeated melodic or rhythmic fragment
- Piano
- Soft, softly
- Pianissimo
- Very soft
- Presto
- Fast, rapid
- Phrase
- A small section of a composition comprising a musical thought. Comparable to a sentence in language.
- Polyphonic Music
- Music in which two or more melodies sound simultaneously
- Polyrhythms
- Music in which two or more keys are used simultaneously in a given composition
- Ritardando
- Gradually growing slower
- Retrograde
- A form of contrapuntal imitation in which the melody is played backwards.
- Romantic
- Relating to the nineteenth-century musical period characterized by subjectivity on the part of the composer, emotionalism in music, longer musical forms, and richer harmonies.
- Root
- The tone of the scale upon which a chord is built
- Root Position
- The postion of a chord in which the root appears as the lowest tone.
- Rubato
- From the Italian "robbed". Used to indicate a modification of the strict rhythmical flow.
- Scale
- A graduated series of tones arranged in a specified order
- Scherzo
- Joke, jest. A sprightly movement, light and humorous in nature
- Sforzando
- Explosively
- Slur
- A curved line drawn over two or more notes of different pitches, indicating that they are to be executed in a smoothly connected manner without a break.
- Sostenuto
- Sustained
- Spirito
- Spiritedly
- Staccato
- Separate. Sounded in a short, detached manner
- Syncopation
- The rhythmic result produced when a regularly accented beat is displaced onto an unaccented beat.
- Tempo
- The rate of speed at which a musical compostion is performed
- Theme
- A short musical passage that states an idea. It often provides the basis for variations, development, etc.
- Timbre
- The quality of a musical tone that distinguishes voices and instruments.
- Tone
- 1. A musical sound 2. The quality of a musical sound
- Tutto, Tutta
- All, whole
- Vivace
- Spirited, bright, rapid, equalling or exceeding allegro
Music Department Homepage
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Last updated: 15 September 1997 www.contracosta.cc.ca.us/music/terms.html
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©copyright 1997