Music Vocabulary Flashcards
Accelerando
uh - chell - er - on - dough
gradually increasing in speed
Adagio
uh - dah - zhee - o
means “at ease” (66-76)
Allegro
uh - leg - ro
in a quick tempo (120)
Andante
on - don - tay
means “at a walking pace” (76-108)
Cantabile
kun - taw - bee - lay
in a smooth and flowing style, songlike
Largo
the most commonly indicated slow tempo
Lento
very slowly (40-60)
Moderato
in a moderate tempo (108-120)
Presto
a very fast tempo (faster than vivace)
Vivace
vee - vach - a
lively and fast (168-176)
Ritardando
rit - ar - don - dough
gradually decreasing in speed
Scherzo
scare - t - zo
a vigorous, light, or playful composition
Rubato
roo - bot - toe
the temporary disregarding of strict tempo to allow an expressive quickening or slackening
Crescendo
gradually increasing in volume
Decrescendo
gradually decreasing in volume
Diminuendo
dee - men - you - in - dough
gradual decrease in volume or intensity
Interval
the space between 2 notes
Unison
2 or notes sounding an identical pitch
Da Capo (DC)
duh - cop - oh
means “from the head” (the beginning)
Fine
fee - nay
means “end”
Fugue
few - guh
a piece of music in which the subject (or melody) is played in an overlapping fashion between various sections
Cadence
kay - dense
a melodic or harmonic configuration that creates a sense of resolution or finality.
Ostinato
ahs - tin - aw - dough
a short musical phrase or rhythm that is constantly repeated throughout a piece
Forzando (fz) or Sforzando (sfz)
fort - zon - dough
forcingly, sudden emphasis or accent
Enharmonic
notes that are the same in pitch though bear different names (e.g., F sharp and G flat or B and C flat)
Chromatic
using notes not belonging to the diatonic scale of the key in which a passage is written
Octave
An octave is a distance between two musical notes that have the same letter name. … It is called an ‘octave’ because there are eight notes in a scale
Glissando
a glide from one pitch to another. a rapid sliding up or down the musical scale
Ornamentation
an embellishment of a melody, either by adding notes or by modifying rhythms
Sequence
A sequence is where a passage of music is repeated at a higher or lower level of pitch.
Espressivo
Expressively
Grandioso
in a broad and noble style
Molto
much or very
Poco
to a slight degree; somewhat; little
Pizzicato
pit - zee - cot - oh
commonly used for string instruments to indicate that notes should be “plucked” with fingers instead of using a bow
Accent
emphasis, stress, or a stronger attack on the beginning of a note
Legato
to be played long and connected; flowing
Marcato
accented and separated
Staccato
light and separated
Sostenuto
means “sustained”
Scherzando
scare - t - sond - oh
to be played playfully or in a joking, light-hearted, happy manner
Tenuto
means “to hold” or give full value
Tranquillo
in a quiet or calm manner
Tutti
means “all together”. typically used to make the end of a solo passage
Solo
played by 1 person as a feature
Soli
featured passage of more than 1 player or instrument, such as an entire section
