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I'm cool and all, but even I can't remember every little music term at the drop of a hat. Here is a concise dictionary of terms, optimized for browsing from my cell phone (or your cell phone!) so that I've got a great little pocket reference - literally in my pocket!
A | B | C | D | E |
F | G | H | I | J |
K | L | M | N | O |
P | Q | R | S | T |
U | V | W | X | Y |
Z |
accent - a symbol placed over or under a notehead to indicate that note should be played louder.
accidental - a sharp, flat or natural sign that is not given in the key signature. An accidental can also refer to any note that is not included in the scale or mode of the key a player is currently in. When an accidental is applied to a note, that note is altered for the rest of the measure.
adagio - slowly and stately. Literally "at ease." Anything played from 66-76 bpm.
allegro - quickly and happily. Anything played from 120-139 bpm.
andante - moving along at a walking pace. Anything played from 76-108 bpm.
a tempo - resume the original speed.
authentic cadence - a melodic or harmonic progression of at least two chords that ends a phrase, section or entire piece of music. Cadences can be categorized as either weak or strong, depending on how "final" it sounds.
chord - any group of notes that are sounded together.
crescendo - to play each note louder than the one that came before it.
Da Capo al Fine (D.C. al fine) - literally "to the head until finished." It means to go back to the beginning and play until the measured marked with "fine."
diminuendo - to play each note softer than the one that came before it.
dynamic signs - any sign showing how loud or soft to play.
fermata - a symbol placed over or under a notehead to indicate that note should be held longer than its given value.
fine - literally "the end."
first ending - the measures under this bracket are played the first time only.
flat sign - lowers a note by one half step. On the piano it means to play the very next key to the left. When an flat is applied to a note, that note is altered for the rest of the measure.
forte - play loudly.
half step - the distance between one note to the very next note with no note in between. On the piano, this is the distance between any key and the key right next to it. The two half steps that occur naturally between any two notes are from B - C and from E - F.
harmonic interval - the interval between two tones sounded simeltaneously.
incomplete measure - when the first measure of a piece of music has fewer beats in it than one would expect based on the time signature of the piece. The "missing" beats can be found at the end of the piece.
inverted chord - when the lowest sounding note in a chord is not the note the chord is based on. notes will appear in 3rds and 4ths, sometimes in 2nds and 5ths.
key signature - the number of sharps or flats in any key. It is written at the beginning of each line of music.
legato - to play notes smoothly connected. It is usually indicated by a slur over the group of notes to be played legato, or by "legato" or "leg." being printed in the music.
major scale - a series of eight notes made of two tetrachords joined by one whole step. The pattern of steps is: whole, whole, half, whole, whole whole, half.
melodic interval - the interval between two tones sounded seperately.
mezzoforte (mf) - play moderately loudly.
moderato - moderately. Anything played from 101-110 bpm.
natural sign - cancels a sharp or flat, whether it is an accidental that previously appears in the measure or a sharp or flat from the key signature. When a natural is applied to a note, that note is altered for the rest of the measure.
piano - to play softly.
ritardando - to gradually slow down the tempo. It is sometimes abbreviated as "ritard." or "rit."
roman numerals - a system of using the roman numerals for 1-7 to refer to how a chord functions in a key. if the numeral appears in uppercase, it is major (IE: I, II, III). if a numeral appears in lowercase, it is minor (IE: i, ii, iii).
root - the note a chord is based on. all the other notes relate to this chord.
root position - when the lowest sounding note in a chord is the note the chord is based on. notes will appear in 3rds, sometimes in 5ths.
second ending - the measures under this bracket are played the second time only.
sharp sign - raises a note by one half step. On the piano it means to play the very next key to the right. When a sharp is applied to a note, that note is altered for the rest of the measure.
staccato - separated or detached. As soon as the note is played, the finger releases the key. It is indicated by a small dot directly above or directly below a notehead.
tempo - rate of speed. Tempo markings at the beginning of a piece of music also often indicate an emotion.
tetrachord - four consecutive notes in ascending order that have the following pattern: whole step, whole step, half step.
time signature - two numbers appearing at the beginning of a piece of music. The top number tells you the number of beats in a measure. The bottom number tells you the kind of note that gets one beat.
whole step - the distance of two half steps. On the piano, it is the distance between any two notes on the keyboard with only one key inbetween them. For example, C-D, D-E, F-G, G-A, A-B.
