Music Terminology
Cheatsheet of common and more obscure music terminology terms and definitions. Understanding music terms makes it easier to collaborate with other musicians – it really does help if you’re all singing and playing from the same hymn sheet!
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- ppp: pianissimo possibile; very very quiet
- pp: pianissimo; very quiet
- p: piano; quiet (soft)
- mp: mezzo-piano; average/medium
- mf: mezzo forte; average/medium
- f: forte; loud (hard)
- ff: fortissimo; very loud.
- fff: fortissimo possibile; very very loud.
- Staggered fugue, a strict canon
- Melody forwards or melody backwards fugues
- Mirror fugue/mirror canon where the same tones are played, or sung, upwards by one and downwards by the other.
- Affettuoso; with feeling/emotion
- Dolce; sweetly
- Lamentoso; lamenting, mournfully
- Tenerezza; tenderness
- Trionfante; triumphantly
- More mood indicator with tempo connatations…
- second; two tones)
- third; three tones)
- fourth; four tones)
- fifth; 5 tones)
- solo; one musician, one-man band
- duo; two musicians
- trio; three musicians
- quartet; four musicians
- quintet; five musicians
- sextet; six musicians
- septet; seven musicians
- octet; eight musicians
- nonet nine musicians
- decet, dectet, tentet or decimette; ten musicians
- duodecet, duodectet; twelve musicians
- Triplets; three notes played in the time of two of the same notes
- Duplets; two notes played in the time of three
- Quadtuplets; four notes, played in the time of three of the same type of note
- Quintuplets; five notes in the time of four
- Sextuplets; six notes in the time of four
- Septuplets; seven notes in the time of four
- Nonuplets; nine notes played in the time of eight of the same type of note.
- 1 = unison
- 2 = second
- 3 = third
- 4 = fourth
- 5 = fifth
- 6 = sixth
- 7 = seventh
- 8 = octave.
- The first movement is often fast (allegro)
- The second movement a bit slower (adagio)
- The third movement is moderately agile (andandte)
- The fourth movement is fast again (presto vivace or allegro).
- Grave; slow and solemn (20-40 BPM)
- Lento; slowly (40-45 BPM)
- Largo; broadly (45-50 BPM)
- Adagio; slow and stately (55-65 BPM)
- Adagietto; rather slow (65-69 BPM)
- Andante; at walking pace (73-77 BPM)
- Moderato; moderately (86-97 BPM)
- Allegretto; moderately fast (98-109 BPM)
- Allegro; fast, quickly and bright, upbeat (109-132 BPM)
- Vivace; lively and fast (132-140 BPM)
- Presto; extremely fast (168-177 BPM)
- Prestissimo; even faster than presto (178 BPM upwards).
See also: Famous Musicals… | Classical Music…
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