IMTA Music Theory Terms - Levels A-F
poco
[a] little
largo
a very slow tempo
diminuendo (dim.)
diminishing
morendo
dying, fading away
accent
emphasize/stress note
fine
end
allegro
fast/lively
ritardando (rit.)
gradually decrease tempo
accelerando (accel.)
gradually faster
crescendo (cresc.)
gradually increasing in volume
pesante
heavy and ponderous
fermata
hold for a prolonged period of time
tenuto
hold full value
giocoso
humorous
meno mosso
less rapid
leggiero
lightly
vivace
lively, quick, upbeat tempo
forte (f)
loud
moderato
moderately
allegretto
moderately fast
mezzo forte (mf)
moderately loud
mezzo piano (mp)
moderately soft
mezzo
moderately/half
piu
more
molto
much
legato
notes are to be played smoothly and connected
8va
play an octave higher/lower
una corda (u.c.)
press the left or soft pedal
subito
quickly/suddenly
tre corda (t.c.)
release the una corda pedal (soft pedal; left pedal)
da capo (D.C.)
repeat from the beginning to the coda
repeat
repeat the section
a tempo
resume the original tempo
rallentando (rall.)
rolling stop/slowing down
staccato
short and detached
adagio
slowly, calmly, at ease
piano (p)
soft
cantabile
songlike/singing
marcato
strongly accented; passage to be performed louder/more forcefully than surrounding music
dolce
sweetly/tenderly
troppo
too much/excessively
assai
very
presto
very fast
fortissimo (ff)
very loud
pianissimo (pp)
very soft
andante
walking tempo
con moto
with motion