Grade Six Music Theory General Knowledge, Lesson 3. Musical Terms and Signs

You can expect just about any musical term or symbol to crop up in a grade six music theory exam!

Here is a list of terms, organised into groups. However, it’s almost impossible to make a “complete” list of terms for this level.
Make sure you also know everything listed under grade five.
Always check the meaning of any new term you come across when you are playing music.

1. Tempo – from very slow to very fast

Italian
Larghissimo	Very, very slow	Andantino	At a moderate walking pace
Grave	Slow and solemn	Moderato	Moderately
Lento	Slowly	Allegretto	Moderately fast
Largo	Broadly	Allegro	Fast and bright
Larghetto	Rather broadly	Vivace	Fast and lively
Adagio	Slow and stately	Vivacissimo	Very fast and lively
Adagietto	Rather slow	Presto	Very fast
Andante	At a walking pace	Prestissimo	Extremely fast

French
Grave	Slowly and solemnly	Rapide	Fast
Lent	Slowly	Vif	Lively
Modéré	Moderately	Vite	Fast

German
Langsam	Slowly	Lebhaft	Lively
Mässig	Moderately	Rasch	Quickly
Bewegt	Animated	Schnell	Fast

2. Changes in tempo

Italian
Accelerando	Speeding up	Allargando	Growing broader
Doppio movimento	Twice as fast	Calando	Going slower
Più mosso	More movement	Meno mosso	Less movement
Precipitando	Hurrying	Rallentando	Gradually slowing
Stretto	In a faster tempo	Ritardando	Slowing
Stringendo	Pressing on faster	Ritenuto	Slightly slower

French
Plus vite	Faster	Moins vite	Less fast

3. Mood

Italian
Affettuoso	With feeling	Lamentoso	Mournfully
Agitato	Agitated	Leggero	Lightly
Appassionato	Passionately	Maestoso	Majestically
Animato	Animated	Malinconico	Melancholically
Brillante	Sparkling	Marcato	Marked
Bravura	Boldly	Marziale	In a military style
Cantabile	In a singing style	Mesto	Sadly
Dolce	Sweetly	Morendo	Dying
Energico	Energetically	Nobilmente	Nobly
Eroico	Heroically	Patetico	With emotion
Espressivo	Expressively	Pesante	Heavily
Furioso	Angrily	Saltando	Jumpingly
Giocoso	Merrily	Scherzando	Playfully
Gioioso	Joyfully	Sostenuto	Sustained
Grandioso	Grandly	Tenerezza	Tenderness
Grazioso	Gracefully	Tranquillamente	Calmly
Lacrimoso	Sadly	Trionfante	Triumphantly

For a comprehensive list of terms in all languages, see the wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_musical_terminology.

4. Bowing Directions

There are a lot of different ways a string player can use a bow.
The more common bowing instructions should be learnt for grade six music theory:

Bowing Directions
Arco	With the bow
Spiccato	Bounce the bow
Sul ponticello	Play near the bridge
Con sordino	With the mute
	Up bow
Col legno	With the wood of the bow
Tremolo	Move the bow up and down extremely fast
Pizzicato	Pluck the strings
Senza sordino	Without the mute
	Down bow

5. Other Symbols

The following symbols also need to be learnt:

Other Symbols
	Arpeggio (broken chord). The lowest note is played first, followed by the second, third etc, in quick succession.
	Tremolo (rapidly repeated note). Short diagonal lines across the stem of a note (or notes) show that it should be rapidly repeated. Often you will see “trem.” written above the note as well. A tremolo is a kind of special effect.
	Measured semiquavers. This is a shorthand way of writing out semiquavers or other fast notes. The beams show you which note value is intended. Although it looks similar to a tremolo, it doesn’t sound like one.
	Glissando or portamento (rapidly play the notes between the two notated). This is sometimes seen in piano or trombone music. The musician plays all the notes in between the two notated notes as fast as possible.
	Stopped note. Used for the French horn, this cross instructs the player to move his/her hand further into the instrument’s bell to create a muffled sound. The symbol is a cross or plus sign, over the note affected.