Grade 4 Musical Terms Flashcards
Tempo Commodo
At a comfortable speed
Tempo Giusto
At a consistent speed (strict)
L’istesso tempo
At the same speed
Non troppo
Not too much
Grave
Slow and solemn
Rubato
With some freedom in the time
Lit. Robbed time
Stringendo
Pressing on faster
Perdendosi
Fading away
Smorzando
Dying away
Rinforzando (Rfz or rf)
Reinforcing the tone
Pesante
Heavily
Cantando
In a singing style
Tenuto (ten.)
Held
Piacevole
Pleasant, agreeable
Portamento
Smoothly gliding from one note to the next (singing/bowing)
Dolente
Sadly, plaintively
Doloroso
Sadly, plaintively
Sotto voce
Softly in an undertone
Giocoso
Gay, merry
Grazioso
Gracefully
Assai
Very
Quasi
As if, as it were, like
Scherzando
Playfully
Subito (sub.)
Suddenly
Sul ponticello (sul pont)
Bow on or near the bridge
Sul tasto
Bow on or near the finger board
Tremolo
Bowing rapidly to produce shimmering or wavering effect
Pizzicato (pizz.)
Pluck the string with finger
Arco
With the bow (after pizz. Sign)
Tenuto
Hold for full value of note
Counterpoint
composition technique: 2 or more melodies combined
Contrapuntal
Adjective used to describe 2 or more melodies combined
Chromatic
1) two notes a semitone apart with the same letter name
2) a series of 12 notes moving in semitones
Diatonic
An interval or scale in which each note has a different letter name.
