Music use lots of terms – many of them in Italian – to communicate expressive ideas that can not be written in the notes and rhythms themselves. The following is a glossary of Italian words that are commonly found written in music.
- A tempo – return to the original tempo
- Accelerando – getting gradually faster
- Adagio – slow
- Allegro - fast
- Andante – medium slow, walking pace
- Caesura – a short pause or cut in the music
- Cantabile – in a singing manner
- Con moto – with motion
- Crescendo – getting gradually louder
- Decrescendo – getting gradually softer
- Diminuendo – getting gradually softer
- Divisi – divide one part into two or more
- Dolce – sweetly
- Espressivo - expressively
- Fermata – hold the note for longer than its written value
- Forte – loud
- Fortissimo – very loud
- Largo – very slow
- Legato – smooth and connected
- Leggiero - lightly
- L’istesso tempo – keep the same tempo
- Maestoso - majestically
- Marcato – marked, with emphasis
- Meno mosso – less motion
- Mezzo forte – medium loud
- Mezzo piano – medium soft
- Moderato – moderate
- Pesante - heavily
- Piannisimo – very soft
- Piano – soft
- Pocco a pocco – little by little
- Presto – very fast
- Ritardando – getting gradually slower
- Rubato – flexible tempo
- Sempre - always
- Sforzando – with sudden emphasis
- Simile – the same
- Sostenuto - sustained
- Staccatissimo – very short and detached
- Staccato – short and detached
- Subito – suddenly
- Tacet – silent, do not play
- Tutti – everyone together