Music Dictionary

ACCELERANDO Means….get your jogging shoes on because we are going to increase our speed into a solid jog–but we’ll work up our speed gradually….and I’ll be your coach….ha ha.

ACCENT Means make one note stand out more than the others…..more cowbell please.

ACCOMPANIMENT Means what I am playing is the back up music to what you are playing. So, you are Beyonce, and I am the accompaniment so that makes me all the rest of the girls in Destiny’s Child.

ADAGIO You know when you are driving on the interstate and you happen to be slowed down by your grandma who is driving 20mph under the speed limit and is doing so in the middle lane……this is Adagio. Play slowly…..or leisurely.

ALLEGRETTO This means please play pretty fast….but not too fast. You don’t want to look like your trying to compete with Albert Hash.

ALLEGRO This means to move at a brisk pace….it’s a walk/jog…..Allegro is the alien name for Lauren Graham when she played in the Gilmore Girls due to the caffeine pace she kept in the show.

ANDANTE This means that you’re supposed to play pretty slow….it can be a horrible pace to play at, horrible, especially if you play a woodwind instrument….you can only hold air for so long.

CADENCE This means that you reached the end of something like a musical phrase or maybe the end of a musical section….kinda like watching the Sound of Music and you’ve finished disc one and now you have to put in disc two.

CHORD Duh!!!!!! You don’t know what a chord is? Fine. I’ll tell you. Hold up three fingers….these three fingers represent three notes…..as long as you play three notes together, at one time, you’ve got a chord.

CONSONANCE Tones that don’t sound like nails to a chalk board. Musical sounds that say, it’s all good man, I’m good.
CRESCENDO can you hear me now….Can You Hear Me Now……CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW!!! CRESCENDO MEANS TO GET GRADUALLY LOUDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DA CAPO (Off With Her Head) You’re not going to like this one. It means to start over from the beginning. When you see this word in music….you play and play and play until you get to a musical word, “fine” and then you can play to the end of the piece. “Fine” by me:)
DIMINUENDO Means, get quiet but for crying out loud, please don’t get quiet all at once…..do it gradually.
DISSONANCE AHHHHHHH! Nails to a chalk board, nails to a chalk board, nails to a chalk board. Dissonance is a term that stands for sounds you can’t stand. Sounds that you want to have end.
DOLCE Oh that is so sweet of you. Dolce means to play your music very sweetly and softly. Think cappacino foam, cotton candy, or the chocolaty filling of a Milky Way bar.
DYNAMICS Every peice of music will ask you to play LOUDLY at times,….softly at times…., and ALL things in BETWEEN.
ESPRESSIONE Sounds like a coffee you would get after an Italian meal. Hah, but no…..it means to play a piece of music with some expression. So the next time you perform….make sure you play with some…”Espressione”….but not in a Mr. Bean way….
FERMATA Hmmm……sounds like a meal that Andrew Zimmern would eat. Let me tell you more….the meaning of this musical word is to stop or pause before you head into the cadenza of a concerto…..before you pick up that weird food or concerto think of FERMATA.

FINE Can you handle this? “Fine” means THE END.
FORTE: Means….Please play loudly…..I like a slight hearing loss…actually, I prefer it, the world’s prettier here.
FORTISSIMO MEANS…..YOU ARE PLAYING SO LOUDLY THAT YOU HAVE MADE ME COMPLETELY LOOSE ALL SENSES…..A HEARING AID WON’T EVEN HELP ME AT THIS POINT THANKS TO YOU.
GRAVE Alas, I am so slow, so sad, so heavy….I am nothing but gravy? No. What an insult….Huh. Well then, I am so upset I am just going to have to like, like, play my music grave.
GUSTO Huh….I knew that you were of good taste…Real classy like….well guuuuud fur u….that’s what gusto means.
HARMONY Means……what do you think it means? You got two notes that sound good together….then you have, Dear Watson……harmony.
MAESTRO Means that the music you are playing is in the Major tonal scale. Think, “Don’t worry, Be happy.”
PIANO: Means….I barely want to hear you, if that….play more softly please.

PRESTO: Means…Please play fast…..”Run Forest Run!”

RALLENTANDO Means that you must slowly take your musical pace down. Mr. Rallentando is better known by his nickname…..”Rall”…..you normally see “rall.” when reading music.
SCHERZANDO Means that when you play your music this way….you are supposed to play very playfully. Go Scherzando…..it’s your birthday….have a party. It’s a happy term.
SCHERZO Hold up two fingers. Your first finger’s name is “A” the second fingers name is “B”—hold up your fingers and look at them. Sometimes in music the organization of piece is set up in two parts. Part A and a Part B. When talking about the term, “Scherzo,” this term refers to a song that is arranged with a part A, then part B, and then it swings around so that part A is played again.
TEMPO Beats per minute. Beats per minute. Beats per minute. How many beats per minute a musical piece has.
TEMPO GIUSTO Think about your mom. Think about her looking around your room and telling you that your room is a mess and that she simply won’t have it. Think about you getting grounded and that part of your punishment is to write sentences at 3:30 in the afternoon. Boy, mom is so strict. That’s what Tempo Giusto is…..strict, strict timing. When you are playing a piece of music and the passage your working on says Tempo Giusto 85…..you better do what it says.
TREMOLOWhen you play the same note over and over really fast. Normally, the string section does this….it works great in wonderful films like, “Saw”, “Final Destination”, “Texas Chainsaw Murderer”, “Goonies”, “Indiana Jones.”