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Terms of Musical Expression
The links below provide more terms, including Italian, French and German, all needed to pass the theory exams.
Alphabetised by 'Musical Term'
English | Symbol | Musical Term | Language |
---|---|---|---|
but | aber | German | |
go straight on to the next section of music | attacca | Italian | |
expression | ausdruck | German | |
with movement, agitated | bewegt | German | |
broad, expansive | breit | German | |
sad, mournful | dolente | Italian | |
grief (doloroso: sorrowful) | dolore | Italian | |
twice as fast | doppio movimento | Italian | |
a, one | ein | German | |
simple | einfach | German | |
as soft as possible, lifeless | estinto | Italian | |
somewhat, rather | etwas | German | |
cheerful, joyful | fröhlich | German | |
always | immer | German | |
getting quicker | incalzando | Italian | |
sad | lacrimoso | Italian | |
slow | langsam | German | |
lively | lebhaft | German | |
at the normal pitch (used often to cancel an 8va direction) | loco | Italian | |
long (lunga pausa: long pause) | lunga | Italian | |
coaxing, in a sweet and persuasive style | lusingando | Italian | |
measure (all misura: in strict time; senza misura: in free time) | misura | Italian | |
with | mit | German | |
at a moderate speed | mässig | German | |
not | nicht | German | |
without | ohne | German | |
or, alternatively | ossia | Italian | |
pleasant | piacevole | Italian | |
plaintive, in the style of a lament | piangevole | Italian | |
rather little | pochettino, poch. | Italian | |
reinforcing | rinforzando, rf, rfz | Italian | |
peaceful | ruhig | German | |
fast | schnell | German | |
go straight on | segue | Italian | |
very | sehr | German | |
dying away in tone and speed | smorzando, smorz. | Italian | |
sweet | süss | German | |
tenderly, tenderness | teneramente, tenerezza | Italian | |
swift, rapid (but often used in the same sense as troppo) | tosto | Italian | |
sad | traurig | German | |
and | und | German | |
flying fast | volante | Italian | |
full | voll | German | |
little | wenig | German | |
again | wieder | German | |
tender, delicate | zart | German | |
to, too | zu | German |