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	Musical Term	Language
tenderly	affettuoso	Italian
hurrying	affrettando	Italian
amiable, pleasant	amabile	Italian
animated, lively	animé	French
with passion	appassionato	Italian
enough, sufficient	assez	French
with	avec	French
getting softer, dying away	calando	Italian
singing	cantando	Italian
as, similar to (come prima – as before, come sopra – as above)	come	Italian
yield, relax with speed	cédez	French
sweet	douce	French
prominent (a direction to make a melody stand out)	en dehors	French
and	et	French
easy	facile	Italian
fire	fuoco	Italian
proper, exact (tempo giusto – in strict time)	giusto	Italian
slow	lent	French
light	légèrement	French
the same (l’istesso temo – the same speed)	l’istesso	Italian
but	mais	French
at a moderate speed	modéré	French
less	moins	French
dying away	morendo	Italian
nothing	niente	Italian
nobly	nobilmente	Italian
not	non	French
dying away	perdendosi	Italian
little	peu	French
more	plus	French
possible (presto possibile – as fast as possible)	possibile	Italian
hurry (en pressant – hurrying on)	presser	French
as if, resembling	quasi	Italian
slow down	ralentir	French
held back (en retenant – holding back, slowing a little)	retenu	French
without	sans	French
resonant, with rich tone	sonoro	Italian
above	sopra	Italian
below (sotto voce – in an undertone)	sotto	Italian
very	très	French
one	un / une	French
swift	veloce	Italian
lively	vif	French
quick	vite	French
voice	voce	Italian
to, at	à	French