Terms, Ornaments & Simple Form
New Italian terms for tempo and expression, the ornaments that decorate a note, and the simplest musical forms.
Explainer
A few more Italian terms to know: accelerando (gradually getting faster), rallentando (gradually slowing down, very close to ritardando), and cantabile (in a singing style).
An ornament decorates a note without changing its basic pitch or length. The two simplest: a trill (a rapid alternation between the written note and the note just above it) and a grace note (a quick, almost-instant extra note played just before the main one).
Binary form has two contrasting sections, played in order: A then B.
Ternary form has three sections: A, then B, then A again — the return of A giving a satisfying sense of coming home, the same way a melody often returns to its tonic.
Worked examples
Accelerando vs rallentando
Accelerando speeds up gradually; rallentando gradually slows down — opposite directions, both gradual rather than sudden.
A trill
A rapid back-and-forth between the written note and the note just above it, for as long as the trill mark lasts.
Binary vs ternary form
Binary is AB — two different sections. Ternary is ABA — the first section returns at the end.