Meaning a slow tempo or slow speed. Sometimes it is the name of a work like Mozart's Adagio for Violin and Orchestra. Andante(Italian) Meaning a walking tempo or walking pace; a moderate speed. Bar/Measure A specific number of musical sounds that are organized within a measure, and that...
Ostinato:a repeated pattern of notes or rhythms that forms a foundation or accompaniment for a musical piece. The term comes from the Italian word "ostinare," meaning " persist." The pattern can be simple or complex and can be found in both melody and ac...
In a major or minor scale, the distance of this interval lies eight steps* away, hence the term “octave.” (*in the major or minor scales, the eight steps are actually a combination of “whole steps” and “half-steps”) Opus (Latin) Meaning work. Work numbers are usually assigned ...
Musical termAlternativesDefinition / meaningLanguageNotes adagiettorather slow (faster than adagio)Italian ad libitumad lib.the marked passage can be played freely ("at choice")Italian agitatoagitatedItalian alla brevewith a minim beat, for example in cut-common or 2/2 timeItalianThis term implies ...
Cédezis an expressive word that comes from the French language and means to "yield or slow [the music]." It is an indication that the performer should gradually decrease thetempoof the music. Other common musical terms that have a similar meaning include the Italianritardando, Frenchen retarda...
Larghetto - Larghetto is a diminutive form of Largo (Italian: broad, wide, large) usually a direction of tempo, meaning slow. Larghetto is slowish, not as slow as Largo. Largamente - broadly and consequently slowly. Largo-Largo (Italian: broad, wide, large and consequently slow) is used ...
The 17th century saw the introduction of the Italian terms that have been in use ever since, often imprecise in meaning, but running roughly hierarchically from slow to fast as follows: adagissimo, adagio, lento, andante, andantino, allegretto, allegro, presto, prestissimo. Britannica Quiz Sound...
A term meaning “backward” or “the series is sounded in reverse order.” Retrograde reverses the order of the motive’s pitches: what was the first pitch becomes the last, and vice versa. Measure 2 indicates Retrograde. Riff A prominent feature in pop and jazz compositions, a riff is a...
TermMeaning aber but (Italian: ma) Ausdruck expression bewegt with movement, agitated (Italian: a combination of con moto and agitato) breit broad, expansive (Italian: largamente) ein a, one einfach simple (Italian: semplice) etwas somewhat, rather (Italian: poco) frölich cheerful, joyful (...
Italian term meaning slowly, gently. It is used in music to indicate a slow tempo, in the neighborhood of 40 to 50 quarter notes per minute. After touch After having pressed a musical keyboard key, you can press more or less by maintaining the pressed key. Some keyboards take this pressur...