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A Layman's Guide to Classical Music Terms

Here are definitions of many of the basic terms of classical music, as might be encountered during a performance or lecture on the subject, focusing on foreign language terms. Done alphabetically.

A capella: Choral music without instrumental accompaniment. 
Accelerando: Accelerating or becoming quicker. 
Adagio: Slowly. 
Agitato: Excited. 
Allargando: Slowing down. 
Allegro: Fast. 
Allegretto: Moderately fast. Slower than allegro, but faster than andante. 
Andante: A walking speed, moderately slow. 
Animato: Animated or lively. 
Appassionato: Passionately. 
Arco: With the bow, rather than pizzicato (with the fingers). A designation for string players often seen after a pizzicato section. 
Aria: A solo song in an opera, cantata, or oratorio. 
Assai: Very, as in allegro assai (very fast). 
A tempo: Back to the original tempo. 
Attaca: Attack, or immediately begin the next movement without a pause. 
Accent: Emphasis placed on a sound or note. 
Accidental: A sharp or flat sign next to a musical note, or the black keys on a keyboard. 
Atonal: Without tonality, in contrast to tonal or serial music. 
Bravo, brava: Good, or well done. Usually exclaimed upon completion of a difficult or very well performed composition. 
Cadenza: A sometimes improvisatory, often virtuosic passage played by a soloist during a concerto or aria. 
Cantabile: Singing. 
Chord: Two or more pitches (notes) played together. 
Col legno: With the wood. An instruction for string players to use the wood of their bows, rather than the hair, in producing the sound. 
Con brio: With vigor. 
Concerto: A musical piece that features a soloist or soloists along with an accompanying instrumental group, usually an orchestra. 
Con sordino: With a mute. 
Crescendo: Becoming louder. 
Da capo, D.C.: An instruction to return to the beginning of the musical piece. 
Detache: Detached. 
Divisi: Divided, as in a string section dividing into two sections to play two different parts. 
Diminuendo: Diminishing or becoming quieter. 
Dolce: Sweetly. 
Dynamic: Level of loud or soft. 
Espressivo: Expressively. 
Fine: End. 
Encore: The optional addition of an extra piece at the end of a concert, usually in response to applause by the audience. 
Falsetto: A male voice singing in an unusually and artificially high register. 
Finale: The final movement of a composition or the final act of an opera. 
Forte: Loud, strong. 
Fortepiano: Loud, then immediately soft. Also an older name for a piano. 
Fortissimo: Very loud. 
Glissando: Sliding from one pitch to another, or sliding up or down a scale or part of a scale. 
Grave: Grave or slow. 
Interval: The distance between two pitches or notes. 
Larghetto: Not quite as broad or slow as largo. 
Largo: Wide, stately speed. 
Legato: Smooth. 
Lento: Slow. 
Libretto: The literary (as opposed to musical) portion or text of an opera, cantata, or oratorio. 
Marcato: Marked or accented. 
Moderato: Moderately. 
Molto: Much or very, as in molto allegro (very fast). 
Pesante: Heavy, weighty. 
Pianissimo: Very quiet. 
Piano: Quiet. 
Pitch: The location of a particular sound on the musical scale, determined by frequency of number of vibrations per second). 
Piu: More. 
Pizzicato: Plucked, in contrast to bowed, on a stringed instrument. 
Placido: Peaceful, calm. 
Poco: A little, somewhat. 
Presto: Quick. Faster than allegro. 
Prima, primo: First. 
Quasi: Almost, or in the style of. 
Rallentando: Becoming gradually slower. 
Ritardando: Becoming gradually slower. 
Rubato: Lingering on certain notes, not in strict time. 
Sans: Without 
Scherzando: Playfully or jokingly. 
Scherzo: Literally, a joke. Usually the third movement of a symphony, sonata, or quartet, distinguished by a quick tempo in 3/4 meter, vigorous rhythm, and humorous character. 
Schnell: Fast. 
Secondo: Second. 
Segue: Continue in the same style, or proceed to the next movement without pause. 
Sempre: Always. 
Spiccato: Bounce the bow off the strings, rather than playing smoothly without lifting and dropping the bow. 
Staccato: Short and detached. 
Stringendo: Hurrying, getting faster. 
Subito: Suddenly. 
Sul ponticello: An instruction to play with the bow on, or very close to, the bridge of the instrument. 
Sul tasto: An instruction to play with the bow over the fingerboard. 
Tempo: Speed or pace of a piece. 
Tremolo: On stringed instruments, a very quick reiteration of the same note or series of notes. 
Troppo: Too much. 
Tutti: Everybody. 
Vigoroso: Vigorous. 
Vivace: Lively. 
Volti subito, V.S. Turn the page quickly. 

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