Musical Terms and Meanings

Term	Abbreviation	Meaning
Accelerando	Accel.	Increasing speed gradually
Adagio	Ad° or Adg°	Slow
Ad libitum	Ad. lib.	To be played as the performer wishes
Allegro	Alleg.	Lively, gay
Andante	And.	Moderately slow
Animato	Anim°	Animated
A tempo	A tem.	In time
Calando	Cal.	Gradually slower but louder tone
Da capo	D.C.	Return to beginning (or sign)
Dal segno	D.S.	and finish at double bar - Finis
Diminuendo	Dim.	Decreasing tone
Forte	f.	Loud sound
Fortissimo	ff. , fff.	Very loud, as loud as possible
Forte piano	f.p.	Loud decreasing in sound
Sforzando	f.z.	Loud decreasing in sound
Largo	Larg.	Slow, broad
Legato	Leg.	Smoothly
Loco	Lo.	Return to previous pitch after playing an octave higher
Mezzo	m.	Half moderate
Mezzo forte	mf. or mff.	Moderately loud
Mezzo piano	mp.	Moderately soft
Mancando	Manc.	Decreasing in sound
Marcato	Marc.	Emphasised
Ottava	Ott, Ova, 8va	To be played an octave higher
Ottava bassa	8 bas	To be played an octave lower
Piano	p.	Soft
Piano-forte	P.F. or pf.	Soft, becoming loud
Pianissimo	pp. , ppp.	Very soft, extremely soft
Pizzicato	Pizz.	To pluck the violin string instead of using the bow
Rallentando	Rall.	Gradually slower
Ritardando	Rit.	Retarding the time
Sempre	Sem. , Semp.	Throughout
Sempre legato	Semp. leg.	Smoothly throughout
Spirituoso	Spir.	Spirited
Tremolando	Trem.	A note or chord played in trembling manner