Violin Online Tempo and Expressive Terms

Tempo & Expressive Terms

Name	Definition
Accelerando	Accelerate or gradually increase the tempo or speed of the music.
Adagio	A slow, leisurely tempo, often considered to be slower than andante, but not quite as slow as largo. Slow movements of a piece are sometimes titled adagio.
Agitato	Agitated or restless. Direction to play in an agitated manner.
Allegretto	A lively and moderately fast tempo. Often considered to be slower than allegro, but faster than andante.
Allegro	A quick, lively and brisk tempo (not quite as fast as presto).
Amore	Play with love, lovingly.
Andante	A moderately slow tempo. Often considered to be a walking speed.
Andantino	A slightly slower tempo than andante (andante is a moderately slow tempo).
Animato	"Animated" or spirited. Play in a lively, spirited manner.
Appassionato	Play passionately, or with intense emotion and feeling.
Assai	Means "very" in Italian. Modifies other terms when added to them, e.g. allegro assai means very fast.
Assez	Means "enough" or "rather" in French. Modifies other terms when added to them, e.g. assez vif means "rather lively" in French (vif means lively), or assez vite means "rather fast" (vite means fast).
A tempo	"In tempo," meaning return to the original tempo or speed. Often used after some variation in the tempo.
Bravura	Boldness. Play brilliantly with boldness and spirit. Sometimes used in passages where virtuosic skill is required of the performer.
Brio	Spirited and lively. Con brio means play with spirit in a vivacious manner.
Cantabile	Play in a singing or vocal style; make the music sing in an expressive manner.
Comodo	Comodo is Italian for a comfortable, leisurely and convenient tempo or speed, neither too fast or too slow.
Con	"With" or in a style expressive of a certain quality. Often used to modify another term such as con spirito, meaning to play with a spirited style.
Dolce	Sweet, soft or gentle. Direction to play sweetly.
Fuoco	"Fire" meaning, play with fire in a fiery, spirited manner.
Grandioso	Play with majestic grandeur.
Grave	Play in a slow and solemn manner
Larghetto	Slightly faster than largo, with a similarly broad, large and stately tempo and style.
Largo	A broad, slow tempo that is dignified and stately in style. Largo is the slowest of tempo markings.
Lento	Means slow in Italian (lent in French). Lento and lent mean a slow tempo in between largo and andante.
Maestoso	Majestic and dignified.
Meno	Less. Often used with other terms such as meno mosso (less rapid or less motion)
Moderato	Moderate. Play at a moderate tempo or speed. This term sometimes modifies others such as Allegro moderato, which means moderately fast.
Mosso	Moved. When used alone as a tempo term, the meaning is similar to con moto: with motion. Mosso is sometimes used with other qualifying terms such as piu mosso, meaning a little faster (more motion).
Moto	Motion. Often used with other terms such as con moto (with motion).
Piu	More.
Poco	"Little" or slightly. A poco a poco means little by little or gradually. Poco modifies other terms when added to them such as poco diminuendo, meaning to become slightly softer.
Presto	A fast, rapid and lively tempo, faster than allegro.
Quasi	"As if," "almost" or "nearly." Often used to modify terms e.g. Allegretto quasi Andantino, meaning an allegretto tempo almost at an andantino tempo.
Rallentando	Gradually becoming slower. Also abbreviated as rall.
Religioso	Play in a devotional or religious style.
Risoluto	Resolutely; play in a resolute, energetic and decisive manner.
Ritardando	Gradually becoming slower and slower (the same meaning as rallentando). Ritardando is often abbreviated as rit.
Rubato	"Robbed." A temporary robbing of time by either slowing or speeding the tempo or rhythmic value of notes in a passage of music.
Simile	In a similar manner. Often used to indicate a passage of music should be performed in the same manner as a preceding section.
Semplice	Simply. Perform in a simple, unadorned, natural manner.
Tempo	The rate of speed or pace of the music. Also may be used with other qualifying words such as "a tempo," meaning return to the original tempo or speed. Various tempo markings are used to indicate directions for the rate of speed such as andante (moderately slow) and allegro (fast). Metronome markings are another way to specify even more precisely the tempo of music e.g. = 60 means each quarter note should be played at the speed of 60 quarter notes per minute.
Tempo di valse	Play the music at the rate of speed or pace of a waltz.
Troppo	Too much. Used to modify other terms such as adagio ma non troppo, meaning, slow but not too slow.
Vivace	Lively and brisk. As a tempo marking, vivace is often considered slightly faster than allegro.