
| I | a | at, to, by, for, in, in the style of |
| I | accelerando, accel. | gradually getting faster |
| I | adagietto | (I) rather slow, but faster than adagio |
| I | adagio | slow, (lit. "at ease"), generally held to indicate a tempo between andante and largo. |
| I | affettuoso | tenderly |
| I | affrettando, affret. | hurrying |
| I | agiato | agitated |
| I | al, alla | to the, in the manner of |
| I | allargando | broadening, i.e. getting a little slower and probably also a little louder |
| I | allegretto | fairly quick, but not as quick as allegro |
| I | allegro | quick (lit. "cheerful") |
| I | amabile | amiable, pleasant |
| I | amore | love |
| I | amoroso | loving |
| I | andante | at a walking pace (lit. "going"), indicating a medium speed |
| I | andantino | slightly faster than andante, but it can also mean slightly slower: the term is ambiguous |
| I | anima | soul, spirit |
| I | animando | becoming more lively |
| I | a piacere | at pleasure, meaning that the performer is not bound to follow the given rhythm exactly |
| I | appassionato | with passion |
| I | arco | bow of a string instrument, a direction after pizzicato |
| I | assai | very, extremely |
| F | assez | enough, sufficiently |
| I | a tempo | in time, indicating a return to the original speed after e.g rit., rall. |
| F | avec | with |
| I | ben, bene | well, very |
| g | bewegt | with movement, agitated |
| I | brilliante | brilliant |
| I | brio | vigour, animation |
| I | calando | getting softer, dying away |
| I | calmato | calm, tranquil |
| I | cantabile | in a singing style |
| I | cantando | singing |
| I | capriccioso | in a whimsical, fanciful style |
| I | col, colla, colle | with, with the |
| I | come | as, similar to |
| I | con | with |
| I | crescendo, cresc.,cres. | gradually getting louder |
| I | da | from |
| I | da capo, D.C. | from the beginning |
| I | dal segno, D.S. | from the sign |
| I | deciso | with determination |
| I | decrescendo, decresc., decres. | gradually getting softer |
| I | delicato | delicate |
| I | diminuendo, dimin., dim. | gradually getting softer |
| I | divis, div. | divided, a direction to orchestral players (usu. strings) to divide into two or more groups |
| I | dolce | sweet, soft |
| I | dolcissimo, dolciss. | as sweetly as possible |
| I | dolente | sad, mornful |
| I | dolore | grief |
| I | doloroso | sorrowful |
| I | doppio movimento | twice as fast |
| I | duolo | = dolore = grief |
| I | e, ed | and |
| I | energico | energetic |
| I | espressione | expression |
| I | espressivo, espress., espr. | expressive |
| I | estinto | as soft as possible, lifeless |
| I | f | - see forte - |
| I | facile | easy |
| I | felice | happy |
| I | feroce | fierce |
| I | fin | fine (I) end |
| I | flessivile | flexible, i.e not in strict tempo |
| I | forte, f | loud (fortissimo, ff, fff: very loud) |
| I | fortepiano, fp | loud, and then immediately soft |
| I | forza | force (forzando, forzato, fz: forcing, strongly accenting) |
| I | fretta | haste |
| I | fuoco | fire |
| I | furioso | furious, frenzied |
| G | gehend | at a steady speed (lit. "going"), equivalent to andante |
| I | giocoso | playful, humourous |
| I | giojoso | joyful, merry |
| I | giusto | proper, exact (tempo giusto: in strict time) |
| F | grave | very slow, solemn |
| I | grazioso | graceful |
| G | immer | always |
| I | impetuoso | impetuous |
| I | incalzando | getting quicker (lit. "pressing forward") |
| I | lacrimoso, lagrimando, lagrimoso | sad (lit. "tearful") |
| I | lamentoso | lamenting |
| G | langsam | slow, equivalent to adagio and lento |
| I | larghetto | rather slow, but slightly faster than largo |
| I | largo | slow, stately |
| I | legato | smooth (lit. "bound", "tied"), indicating no break between notes. (legatissimo: as smooth as possible) |
| G | leid | grief, pain |
| F | lent, lento | slow (lentement: slowly) |
| I | liberamente | freely |
| I | loco | at the normal pitch (used to cancel an 8va direction or to confirm that one is not intended) |
| I | m | - see main, mano, mezza - |
| I | ma | but |
| I | maestoso | majestic |
| F | main | hand |
| F | mais | but |
| I | mano | hand |
| I | mancando | fading away |
| I | marcato, marc. | emphatic, accented |
| I | martellato | strongly accented (lit. "hammered"), generally used in string music to denote a particular type of bowing, but can also be applied to music for piano or other instruments |
| I | meno | less |
| I | mesto | sad |
| I | mezza, mezzo | half (mezzo forte, mf: moderately loud; mezzo piano, mp: moderately soft. mezza voce: in an undertone) |
| I | misterioso | mysterious |
| I | misura | measure |
| I | moderato | at a moderate speed |
| I | molto | very, much |
| I | morendo | dying away |
| I | mosso | with motion, animated |
| I | moto, movimento | movement, motion |
| F | mouvement, mouvt | movement, motion |
| I | niente | nothing |
| I | nobilmente | nobly |
| F | non | not |
| I | p | - see piano - |
| I | parlando | speaking, a direction to sing in a conversational style |
| I | patetico | with deep feeling, with pathos (NOT PATHETIC in the sense of feeble!!!) |
| I | pausa | a pause |
| I | pedale | pedal |
| I | pesante | heavy |
| I | piano, p | quiet (pianissimo, pp, ppp: very quiet) |
| I | piu | more |
| I | pizzicato, pizz. | plucked, a direction for plucking the strings of a bowed instrument |
| I | placido | calm, peaceful |
| F | plus | more |
| I | poco | little, slightly (poco a poco: little by little, gradually) |
| I | rallentando, rall. | gradually getting slower | |
| G | rasch | quick (rascher: quicker) | |
| I | rigoroso | bold, strong | |
| I | ritardando, ritard., rit. | gradually getting slower | |
| I | ritenuto, riten., rit. | held back | |
| I | ritmico | rhythmically | |
| I | rubato, tempo rubato | with some freedom of time (lit. "robbed") | |
| G | ruhig | peaceful |
| I | scherzando, scherzoso | playful, joking, implies a fast speed) |
| I | semplice | simple, plain |
| I | sempre | always |
| I | senza | without |
| I | sforzando, sforzato, sfz, sf | accented, forced |
| I | simile, sim. | continue in the same way |
| I | smorzando, smorz. | dying away in tone and speed |
| I | solenne | solemn, grave |
| I | sostenuto, sost. | sustained |
| I | sotto | below, e.g., a direction for keyboard players to place one hand below the other |
| I | spiritoso | spirited |
| I | staccato, stacc. | detached, short (staccatissimo: very short) |
| I | stretto | quickening the speed (also means overlapping entries of a fugue subject) |
| I | subito, sub. | suddenly |
| I | sul, sulla | on the |
| I | tanto | so much |
| I | tempo | speed |
| I | tenuto, ten. | held |
| I | tranquillo | calm |
| G | traurig | sad |
| I | tremolando, tremolo, trem. | trembling, a direction for the rapid reiterations of a single note or alternations of different notes |
| I | troppo | too much |
| I | un, una, uno | one |
| G | und | and |
| I | unisono, unis. | in unison, with everyone performing the same notes, a direction to cancel divisions |
| I | veloce | swift | |
| I | vibrato | vibrating | |
| I | vif | lively | |
| I | vigoroso | vigorous, strong | |
| I | vite | quick | |
| I | vivace | , vivement (F), vivo (I) lively, quick | |
| I | voce | , voix (F) voice | |
| I | volante | flying, fast | |
| I | volta | time |