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Music Terms
We have listed below some musical terms together with their abbreviations and meanings.
| Abbreviation | Term | Meaning |
DYNAMICS |
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Crescendo | get louder |
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Diminuendo | get quieter |
| p | Piano | quiet |
pp |
Pianissimo | very quiet |
ppp |
Pianississamo (Jenifer Hood) See note below |
very, very quiet |
| mp | mezzopiano | quite quiet |
| mf | mezzoforte | quite loud |
| f | forte | loud |
| ff | fortissimo | very loud |
| fff | fortississimo (Jenifer
Hood)
See note below |
very, very loud |
| sf | sforzando | suddenly very loud |
Jenifer
also advises that the general rule is to add an "iss" for every added f or p.
Sorry, June, but as much as I loved your page, there is one flaw. I'm a professional musician from Finland, and I wanna say, that pianississimo is not a real word at all. There right term is piano pianissimo for ppp, and fff is forte fortissimo. Elina Juuti My response - Being a professional
musician yourself you are obviously far more qualified that me on this subject
but, having done a little more research I find that the term "pianississimo"
is, in fact, featured in many dictionaries and musical sites. I am wondering if,
perhaps, it is a difference within geographical regions, although I had thought
music was fairly general worldwide.
I could, however, not find many references to the
term "piano pianissimo" being used for ppp. I did come across a site which mentions that
musicians have devised various neologisms for these designations, including
fortississimo/pianississimo, forte fortissimo/piano pianissimo, and more simply
triple forte/triple piano or molto fortissimo/molto pianissimo.
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| TEMPO INDICATORS | ||
| Adagio | slow | |
| largo | slow and dignified | |
| andante | flowing, at walking pace | |
| allegro | quick and bright | |
| allegretto | a little slower than allegro | |
| vivace | fast and lively | |
| presto | very quick | |
| accelerando | getting faster | |
| ritenuto (rit.) | holding back | |
| rallentando (rall.) | slowing tempo (Jenifer Hood) flexible tempo |
|
| rubato | flexible tempo (Jenifer Hood) | |
| INTERPRETIVE INDICATORS | ||
| cantabile | singing style | |
| dolce | soft and sweet | |
| espressivo | expressively | |
| lacrimato | tearfully/crying
(song)
(Stephen Moore) |
|
| legato | smooth | |
| staccato | detached | |