Musical Terms

A glossary of the Italian tempo, dynamics, articulation and expression markings composers write into a score.

What's inside

• The full dynamic range from pianissimo to fortissimo, shown as a six-step scale
• Tempo terms from Largo to Presto, each with a plain-English meaning
• Dynamics terms — piano, forte, crescendo, sforzando and more
• Articulation terms — legato, staccato, tenuto, accent, slur
• Expression terms — cantabile, dolce, grazioso, maestoso, con brio