| accelerando | (a passage) to be played increasingly quickly > ACCELERANDOS. |
| adagio | (a passage) to be played slowly > ADAGIOS. |
| affettuoso | with feeling. |
| agitato | in an agitated manner. |
| allargando | slowing. |
| allegretto | (a passage) quicker than ANDANTE, but not so quick as ALLEGRO > ALLEGRETTOS. |
| allegro | (a passage) in a lively, cheerful manner > ALLEGROS. |
| altaltissimo | (a passage) to be played very very high > ALTALTISSIMOS. |
| altissimo | v(a passage) to be played very high. |
| ancora | encore. |
| andante | (a passage) to be played moderately slowly (a bit quicker than ADAGIO) > ANDANTES. |
| andantino | (a passage) rather quicker than ANDANTE > ANDANTINOS. |
| animato | in a lively manner. |
| arco | with the bow (marking the end of a PIZZICATO passage, during which the strings have been plucked with the fingers) > ARCOS. |
| arioso | in the melodious manner of an aria; (noun) an aria > ARIOSOS or ARIOSI. |
| assai | very. |
| assez | fairly. |
| bis | twice. |
| brio | liveliness, enthusiastic vigour, as in con brio. |
| calando | slowing with gradually lowering volume. |
| calo | (abbrev. of) CALANDO, slowing with gradually lowering volume. |
| cantabile | (a passage) in a melodious, flowing style; in a singing style, as opposed to RECITATIVO, or PARLANDO > CANTABILES. |
| capriccioso | in a free and impulsive style. |
| cito | quickly. |
| commodo comodo | with ease, relaxed. |
| crescendo | (a passage) with a gradual increase in loudness; (verb) to come to a crescendo > CRESCENDI or CRESCENDOS. |
| decrescendo | = DIMINUENDO, (a passage) in a gradually diminishing manner; with abatement of tone > DECRESCENDOS (and not DECRESCENDI*). |
| diminuendo | (a passage) in a gradually diminishing manner; with abatement of tone > DIMINUENDOS. |
| dolcemente | softly; sweetly; with soft, smooth, and delicate execution. |
| dolente | to be performed in a sorrowful manner. |
| doloroso | plaintive, pathetic. |
| downbow | a downward stroke in playing a bowed instrument. |
| espressivo | to be performed in an expressive manner. |
| forte | loudly; (noun) one's strong point > FORTES. |
| fortepiano | loud with immediate relapse into softness; (noun) the 18c name for an early type of piano; a fortepiano note > FORTEPIANOS. |
| fortissimo | (a passage) to be played very loudly > FORTISSIMI or FORTISSIMOS. |
| fortississimo | as loudly as possible. |
| forzando forzato sforzando sforzato | (a passage) to be played with special emphasis or sudden loudness > FORZANDOS or FORZANDI, FORZATOS or FORZATI, SFORZANDOS or SFORZANDI, SFORZATOS or SFORZATI. |
| furioso | in a furious manner; (noun) a furious person > FURIOSOS. |
| giocoso | played in a lively or humorous manner. |
| giusto | in just, correct, or suitable time. |
| glissando | (a passage) to be played with a gliding effect > GLISSANDOS or GLISSANDI. |
| grandioso | in a broad or noble style. |
| grazioso | gracefully; smoothly; elegantly. |
| lacrimoso lagrimoso | plaintive. |
| largando | becoming gradually slower. |
| larghetto | (a passage) to be played rather slowly > LARGHETTOS. |
| largo | (a passage) to be played in a slow broad manner > LARGOS. |
| legatissimo | as smoothly as possible. |
| legato | (a passage) to be played in a smooth, even style > LEGATOS. |
| leggiero | light or graceful; in a light, delicate, and brisk style. |
| lentamente | slowly; in slow time. |
| lentando | slackening; retarding. |
| lentissimo | very slow. |
| lento | slow; in slow time; (noun) a slow movement > LENTI or LENTOS. |
| maestoso | majestic or majestically > MAESTOSOS. |
| mancando | fading away. |
| marcatissimo | in a very marked emphatic manner. |
| marcato | in a marked emphatic manner. |
| martellato | played with a hammering touch, or with short quick detached movements of the bow. |
| meno | less. |
| mesto | sad. |
| mezzo | moderately; (noun) a mezzo-soprano > MEZZOS. |
| moderato | a musical direction indicating a moderate degree of quickness > MODERATOS. |
| molto | much; very; as, molto adagio, very slow. |
| morendo | dying: relating to a gradual DECRESCENDO at the end of a strain or cadence. |
| mosso | with motion or animation. |
| ossia | or — giving a performer the choice of performing a different passage. |
| ottava | an octave higher than indicated > OTTAVAS. |
| parlando parlante | sung in a style suggestive of speech (e.g. Gilbert and Sullivan). |
| perdendo perdendosi | slowing and softening at the same time. |
| pesante | heavy, weighty. |
| piacevole | pleasant, playful. |
| piano | softly; (noun) a keyboard instrument > PIANOS. |
| pianissimo | (a passage) to be executed very softly > PIANISSIMOS. |
| pianississimo | as softly as possible. |
| piu | more. |
| pizzicato | a direction to violinists to pluck the string with the finger, instead of using the bow > PIZZICATI or PIZZICATOS. |
| poco | little. |
| prestissimo | (a passage) to be played as quickly as possible > PRESTISSIMOS. |
| presto | (a passage) in rapid tempo > PRESTOS. |
| rallentando | (a passage) with a gradually slackening tempo > RALLENTANDI or RALLENTANDOS. |
| religioso | in a devotional manner. |
| rinforzando | with a sudden stress or crescendo. |
| risoluto | with emphasis, boldly. |
| ritard | a musical passage with a gradual slackening of tempo > RITARDS. |
| ritardando | (a musical passage) with a gradual slackening of tempo > RITARDANDOS. |
| ritenuto | (a musical passage) with a holding back of the normal tempo, that is then resumed > RITENUTOS. |
| rubato | (a musical passage) in modified or distorted rhythm > RUBATOS or RUBATI. |
| saltando saltato | with leaping bow. |
| scherzando | (a musical passage) in a playful or sportive manner > SCHERZANDOS. |
| sciolto | in a free manner. |
| scordato | put out of tune. |
| scorrendo | in a gliding manner. |
| segno | a notational sign marking the beginning or the end of a repeat > SEGNI or SEGNOS. [L. signum]. |
| selah | a musical instruction meaning a pause, to reflect upon that which came before or which follows, for a meditational attitude > SELAHS. |
| semplice | simply, plainly. |
| sempre | always; throughout; as, sempre piano, always soft. |
| senza | without; as, senza stromenti, without instruments. |
| sforzando | see FORZANDO. |
| sforzato | see FORZANDO. |
| smorzando smorzato | with a gradual fading away, growing slower and softer. |
| solito | in the usual manner. |
| sopra | above. |
| sorda | fem. of SORDO, muted, damped. |
| sordamente | gently, softly. |
| sordo | muted, damped. |
| sostenuto | (a passage) to be played in a sustained or drawn out manner > SOSTENUTOS. |
| spiccato | (a passage) to be played with staccato bowing > SPICCATOS. |
| spiritoso | spirited; -- a direction to perform a passage in an animated, lively manner. |
| staccatissimo | in a very STACCATO manner. |
| staccato | (a passage) to be played with short, clear-cut notes > STACCATOS or STACCATI. |
| strepitoso | noisy, boisterous. |
| stringendo | urging or hastening the time, as to a climax. |
| subito | at once; immediately. |
| suivez | follow (the solo part, as a direction to accompanists). |
| tacet | it is silent; -- a direction for a vocal or instrumental part to be silent during a whole movement. No —S. |
| tanto | so much, too much. |
| tardo | slowly. |
| tremolando | (a passage) to be played with a tremulous effect > TREMOLANDI or TREMOLANDOS. |
| tremolant | a vibrating, quavering musical effect > TREMOLANTS. |
| tremolo | a vibrating, quavering musical effect > TREMOLOS. |
| troppo | too much. |
| tutti | a direction for all the singers or players to perform together > TUTTIS. |
| uptempo | a piece in a fast tempo > UPTEMPOS. |
| veloce | rapidly. |
| vibrato | (a passage) to be played with a throbbing effect > VIBRATOS. |
| vibratoless | without VIBRATO. |
| vigoroso | with energy and force. |
| vite | quickly. |
| vivace | (a passage to be played) in a lively manner > VIVACES. |
| vivacissimo | in a very lively manner. |
| vivamente | in a lively manner. |
| vivo | lively. |
| volti | a direction to musicians to turn the page. No —S. |
| zeloso | with fervour. |
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