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In traditional music notation you will find a lot of Italian musical terms.
When notating music, it is custom to write them at a predefined position using a predefined font.
tempo
oriented tems like adagio
are usually written above the staff (using text type info 1 <h>)
dynamic
oriented terms like crescendo
are usually written below the staff (using text type info 2 <i>)
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Abbreviatura | |
|
A cappella |
Voice only - without instrumental accompaniment |
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Accaciatura |
short grace note |
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Accellerando |
accellerate tempo |
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Adagio |
Slow tempo with expression |
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Ad lib / ad libitum |
'as you like it' |
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Agile |
Quick / lively |
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Agitato |
Agitated |
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Al Fine |
Move to end. |
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a bit fast and lively allegro | |
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Allegro |
Fast and lively |
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Allegro agitato |
Fast and agitated |
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Allegro con brio |
Fast |
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Allegro con fuoco |
Fast and furious |
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Allegro con spirito |
Fast, with spirit |
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Allegro moderato |
Moderately fast |
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All ottava |
one octave higher then notated |
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Andante |
Moderately slow |
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Andantino |
Andante-like; might be faster or slower than andante |
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Animato |
Lively |
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Arco |
Played with the bow (contrary to plucked, pizzicato) |
|
Animando |
Getting livelier |
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Apoggiatura |
long grace notes |
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A tempo |
Play in previous tempo |
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Assai |
'Very' as in Allegro assai |
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Attacca |
Start at once |
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Ballabile |
To be danced on |
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Basso continuo |
Accompaniment using clavichord and bass / violoncello |
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Bel canto |
Sung as in Italian opera 18/19e century |
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Bruscamente |
Brusque |
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Calando |
Diminshing |
|
Tail piece | |
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Cambiare |
Exchange (instrument) |
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Cantando |
Sung |
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Cantabile |
Like being sung |
|
Capriccio |
Free form passage, showing skills |
|
Chiuso |
Closed (horn) |
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Contra |
Against |
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Col legno |
Playing a violin /cello using the wooden side of a bow |
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Coperti |
Covered (drum, muted with a cloth) |
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Gradually getting louder | |
|
From the beginning | |
|
Decrescendo |
Gradually getting softer |
|
Gradually getting softer | |
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Dolce |
Sweet, soft |
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Starting from the sign | |
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Entrata | |
|
Played differently in time (mostly longer than notated) | |
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End | |
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Forte |
Loud |
|
Very loud | |
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Forzando |
Using strong accents |
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Forzatissimo |
Using very strong accents |
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Furioso |
Vurig, heftig, woedend |
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Grave |
Serious |
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Gliding | |
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Imitando |
Imitating |
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Interludium |
Intermediate piece |
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Intermezzo |
Intermediate piece |
|
Tie notes together | |
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Lento |
Slow |
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Martellato |
Hammering |
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Marcia |
In strict tempo at a marching pace (120 bpm) . 'a la Marcia' |
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Meno |
Less |
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Moderato |
Moderate tempo |
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Molto |
More |
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Mosso |
Lively |
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Parlando |
Spoken (not sung) |
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Passione |
With passion |
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Piu |
More |
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Poco |
A little bit |
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Portato | |
|
Very soft | |
|
Pizzicato / Pizz. |
Plucked (instead of bowed) |
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Prelude |
Introduction |
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Prima vista |
At first sight reading |
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First time (1) | |
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Rallentando |
Getting slower |
|
Rapido |
Very fast |
|
Religioso |
Religious |
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Rinforzando |
Emphasizing a group of notes |
|
Ritardando |
Getting slower |
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Ritenuto |
Decelerating |
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Rubato |
Free in tempo |
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Scordatura |
Using a non-standard instrument tuning |
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Second time | |
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Senza tempo |
No fixed tempo |
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Senza replica |
Without repetitions |
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Sforzando |
Emphasizing one note or chord |
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Sforzato-piano |
sfp first strong, immediatly thereafter soft |
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Spiccato |
With a bouncing bow - every note accented |
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Played (much) shorter than notated | |
|
Play a note as short as possible | |
|
Stringendo |
Getting faster, stronger |
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Tacet |
Silent (no chords) |
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Toccata |
Free style music piece |
|
Somewhat louder | |
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Repeating short notes | |
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Tutti |
Everyone together |
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Unisono |
Single voiced |
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Veloce |
Fast |
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Vibrato |
Pitch modulation (speed and amplitude may vary) |
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Vivace |
Lively, pleasantly |
