Musical Notation

accelerando and ritardando

Instructions that tell you to play gradually faster (accelerando, abbreviated accel.) or gradually slower (ritardando, abbreviated ritard. or rit.).

dynamic marking

Letters that tell you how loud or soft to play. The letters are the abbreviations of Italian words and terms, such as mf for mezzo-forte (medium loud), mp (mezzo-piano, medium soft), f (forte, loud), p (piano, soft), ff (fortissimo, very loud), and pp (pianissimo, very soft).

ending brackets

Lines that separate different endings in a repeated section.

repeat signs

Special bar-line-type symbols that tell you to repeat the measures between the signs.

crescendo and decrescendo (diminuendo)

Symbols that resemble open wedges (called "hairpins" by some musicians) or the abbreviated versions cresc. and decresc. (or dim.) that tell you to play gradually louder (crescendo) or softer (decrescendo, diminuendo).

Double Bar lines

Two bar lines spaced close together, indi-cating the end of a section or, if the lines are a combination of a thick and thin pair, the end of a piece.

eighth note triplet

an eighth note grouped with other notes and appearing with the numeral 3, some-times accompanied by a bracket, to indicate three eighth notes in the space of two eighth notes' time`

difference between slur and tie

in a slur you strike the note again but do so smoothly, while a tie you don't strike the note again but hold for the duration of both notes; slurs are for different pitches as well

Whole Note

receives four beats in 4/4 time.

eighth note

receives half a beat in 4/4.; two types

quarter note

receives one beat in 4/4.

16th note

receives one quarter of a beat in 4/4; two types

half note

receives two beats in 4/4.

time signature

signature A two-digit symbol that appears at the beginning of the piece that helps you count the beats in a measure and tells you which beats to stress, or give emphasis to. The top number indicates how many beats are in each measure, and the bottom number tells you what type of note (half, quarter, eighth, and so on) gets one beat. For example, in 3/4 time, you play three beats to the measure, with the quarter note receiving one beat. In 4/4 time, you play four beats to the measure, with the quarter note receiving the pulse or beat. Knowing how to read (and play according to) the time signature helps you to capture the feel of the music.

D.C. al Coda

tells you to go back to the beginning and play until you see the words To Coda. Then skip to the part of the music marked Coda (which indicates the final part of the music — coda is Italian for "tail") with the coda symbol (which resembles a set of crosshairs or a cross covering an oval).

D.S

(for dal segno, or "from the sign") tells you to go back to the sign (a slanted, stylized s with two dots on either side and a slash bisecting the s).

slur

A curved line between two notes of different pitch that tells you to connect the second note smoothly to the first. Slurs appear in music requiring a legato (ligado in Spanish) approach, where the notes blend together in a sustained, uninterrupted fashion.

tie

A curved line that joins two notes of the same pitch. You play the first note for its full value, and instead of restriking the second (tied) note, you let the note sustain for the combined value of both notes.

augmentation dot

A dot appearing to the right of the note head or rest that tells you to increase the note's or rest's length by half of the original value. For example, a quarter note is one beat, so a dotted quarter note equals one and a half beats.

D.C. al Fine

A score direction that tells you to go back to the beginning (D.C. stands for Da capo, Italian for "from the top") and play to the part marked Fine (Italian for "end").

staccato dot

A small dot placed above or below the note head that tells you to play the note short and detached.

whole rest

A small rectangle that hangs down from a staff line indicating an entire measure's rest in any meter.

half rest

A small rectangle that sits on a staff line indicating two beats' rest in 4/4.

accent

A small wedge-shaped or caret-like mark-ing above or below a note that tells you to emphasize the note by striking it harder than normal.

eighth rest

A symbol that indicates a half beat's rest in 4/4.

16th rest

A symbol that indicates a quarter beat's rest in 4/4.

quarter rest

A symbol that indicates one beat of rest in 4/4.

tempo heading

A word or phrase that offers guidance on the speed and/or general feel of the piece. In much classical music, tempo headings are written in Italian (such as Andante, Adagio, or Moderato), but it's also common to see the words written in the composer or publisher's native language