List of Italian musical terms used in English

A great many musical terms are in Italian. It shouldn't be surprising that so many musical terms are Italian, since many of the most important early composers in the renaissance period were Italian, and that period is when numerous musical indications were used extensively for the first time. (See also sheet music.)

Here are some of these expressions:

Italian term

Literal translation

Definition

Musical forms

A cappella	in chapel style	Sung with no instrumental accompaniment
Aria	air	A song, esp. one from an opera
Arietta	little air	A short or light aria
Ballabile	danceable	(song) to be danced to
Battaglia	battle	A piece suggesting a battle
Bergamasca	from Bergamo	A peasant dance from Bergamo
Burletta	a little joke	A light comic or farcical opera
Cadenza	falling	A florid solo at the end of a performance
Cantata	sung	A piece for orchestra and singers
Capriccio	caprice	A lively piece of music
Coda	tail	The end of a piece
Concerto	concert	A work for one or more solo instruments accompanied by an orchestra
Concertino	little concert	A short concerto; the solo instrument in a concerto
Concerto grosso	big concert	A Baroque form of concerto, with a group of solo instruments
Intermezzo	interval	A short connecting instrumental movement
Libretto	little book	A work containing the words to an opera or musical
Opera	work	A drama set to music for singers and instrumentalists
Opera buffa	humorous opera	A comic opera
Opera seria	serious opera	An opera with a serious, esp. classical theme
Sonata	sounded	A composition for one or two instruments in sonata form

Musical instruments

Piano(forte)	soft-loud	A keyboard instrument
viola	viola, orig. Latin vitulari "be joyful"	A medium-sized stringed instrument
(Violon)cello	Small violone (violone means "big viola")	A large stringed instrument
Viola da gamba	leg viola	A stringed instrument held between the legs
Viola da braccio	arm viola	A stringed instrument held in the arm, such as a violin or viola
Viola d'amore	love viola	A tenor viol with no frets
Tuba	tube	A large brass instrument
Piccolo	little	A tiny woodwind instrument
Timpani	drums	Large drums
Cornetto	little horn	An old woodwind instrument
Campana	bell	A bell used in an orchestra; also campane "bells"
Orchestra	orchestra, orig. Greek orkesthai "dance"	An ensemble of instruments
Oboe d'amore	love oboe	A Baroque woodwind instrument

Voices

Soprano	upper	The highest vocal line
Mezzo-soprano	middle soprano	Between soprano and alto
Alto	high	Second-highest vocal line
Contralto	against high	Alto, esp. a female alto
Basso	low	Or "bass;" the lowest vocal line
Basso profondo	deep and low	A very deep bass voice
Castrato	castrated	A male singer, castrated so as to be able to sing soprano (now sung by women, conventional countertenors, or sopranisti)
Falsetto	false (dim.)	High male voice, affecting a female voice

Tempo

Tempo	time	The speed of a piece of music
Largo	broad	Slow and dignified
Larghetto	a little bit broad	Not as slow as largo
Lento	slow	Slow
Adagio	ad agio, at ease	Slow, but not as slow as largo
Adagietto	little adagio	Faster than adagio; or a short adagio composition
Andante	walking	Moderately slow, flowing along
Moderato	moderately	At a moderate speed
Allegretto	a little bit joyful	Slightly slower than allegro
Allegro	joyful	Moderately fast
Fermata	stopped	Marks a note to be held or sustained
Presto	ready	Very fast
Prestissimo	very ready	Very very fast, as fast as possible
Accelerando	accelerating	accelerating
Affrettando	becoming hurried	accelerating
Ritardando	to slow	decelerating
Rallentando	becoming progressively slower	decelerating
Rubato	robbed	extending a note or phrase, compensated by shortening another one nearby
Tenuto	sustained	holding or sustaining a single note
Accompagnato	accompanied	The accompaniment must follow the singer who can speed up or slow down at will
alla marcia	as a march	In strict tempo at a marching pace (e.g. 120 bpm)

Dynamics - volume

Calando	quietening	Becoming softer and slower
Crescendo	growing	Becoming louder
Decrescendo	shrinking	Becoming softer
Diminuendo	dwindling	Becoming softer
Forte	strong	Loud
Fortissimo	very strong	Very loud
Mezzo forte	half-strong	Moderately loud
Piano	gentle	Soft
Pianissimo	very gentle	Very soft
Mezzo piano	half-gentle	Moderately soft
Sforzando	strained	Sharply accented

Moods

Affettuoso	with feeling	Tenderly
Agitato	agitated	Excited and fast
Animato	animated	Animated
Bruscamente	brusquely	Brusquely
Cantabile	singable	In a singing style
Comodo	easily	Unrestrainedly
Con amore	with love	with love
Con fuoco	with fire	with fiery manner
Con brio (Con Spirito)	with spirit	With spirit
Con moto	with movement	With movement
Dolce	sweetly	Sweet
Grazioso	graciously or gracefully	With charm
Maestoso	majestic	Stately
Misterioso	mysterious	Mysteriously, secretively, enigmatic
Scherzando	playfully	Playfully
Sotto	subdued	Subdued
Vivace	vivacious	up-tempo

Musical expression (general)

Molto	very	Used with other terms, such as molto allegro
Assai	very	Used with other terms, such as allegro assai
Più	more	Used with other terms, such as più mosso
Poco	little	"a little". Used with other terms, such as poco diminuendo
Poco a poco	little by little	"little by little", "slowly but steadily". Used with other terms, such as poco a poco crescendo
ma non troppo	but not too much	But not too much, such as allegro ma non troppo
Meno	less	Used with other terms, such as meno mosso

Directions

Attacca	attach	Proceed to the next section without pause
Cambiare	change	Any change, such as to a new instrument
Dal Segno	to the sign	Abbreviated as D.S., informs the performer to repeat a specific section marked by a sign (segno)

Techniques

Altissimo	very high	Very high
Arpeggio	harp-like	A chord with the notes spread out in time
Acciaccatura	crushing	An extra, very fast grace note
Appoggiatura	leaning	A type of ornament
Basso continuo	continuous bass	Continuous bass accompaniment (see figured bass.)
Bocca chiusa	mouth closed	Wordless humming in a choral piece
Chiuso	closed	Calls for a horn to be muted by hand
Col arco	with the bow	Cancels "col legno" and "pizzicato" (in a string passage, arco is usually expected and is not written.)
Colla voce	with the voice	A note to accompanists to play with (in time with) the singer, especially when slowing for textual effect
Col legno	with the wood	Calls for a bowed instrument to be struck with the wood rather than the hair of the bow
Coloratura	coloration	Elaborate ornamentation of a vocal line
Con sordino	with mute	Calls for mute to be applied, esp. to string instruments.
Senza sordino	without mute	Calls for mute to be removed, esp. from string instruments.
Pizzicato	plucked	Calls for a bowed instrument to be plucked with the fingers
Coperti	covered	Of a drum, muted with a cloth
Una corda	one string	With the soft pedal, on a piano
Due corde	two strings	With the soft pedal, on a piano. For why both terms exist, see piano.
Tre corde or tutte le corde	Three strings or all the strings	Cancels an una corda
Scordatura	mistuning	Alternate tuning (of strings)

Roles

Prima donna	first lady	Leading female role
Comprimario/a	con primario, with the first	A supporting role
Concertino	little concert	The smaller, more virtuosic, group of musicians in a concerto grosso
Ripieno	filling or stuffing	The larger group of musicians in a concerto grosso

Criticism

Bel canto	beautiful voice	Any fine singing, esp. that popular in 18th and 19th c. Italian opera
Bravura	skill	A performance of extraordinary virtuosity
Bravo!	skillful	a cry of congratulation to a male singer or performer. Fem. brava, pl. bravi, fem.pl. brave

External links

8notes glossary