How to read music continued

The note names

The music alphabet is made of letters A-G

Treble clef

Bass clef

The Blue letters indicate different octaves.

octaves are the same note but the frequency of the note is twice as fast or slow depending on which note it is, two or more of the same note on a different octave sound almost the same.

There are many other notes that go over and under the score, but the music alphabet just keeps going.

tempos

Slow

• grave - very slow, serious
• largo - broad, stately
• lento - slow
• adagio - slow, tranquil

Moderate

• andante - moving; literally, "walking"
• moderato - moderately fast

Fast

• allegro - fast; literally, "cheerful"
• allegretto - fast; literally, "cheerful"
• vivace - very fast
• presto - very, very fast
• prestissimo - as fast as possible

Acceleration

• accelerando - with increasing rapidity
• stringendo - pressing, becoming faster
• doppio movimento - twice as fast
• piu mosso - at a faster speed
• piu moto or veloce - at a faster speed

Decreasing Speed

• rallentando - gradually slower
• ritardando - gradually slower
• allargando - gradually slower
• ritenuto - held back, slowed down
• meno mosso - steady, but slower than before
• meno moto - steady, but slower than before
• morendo - dying, fading away

Return to Original Tempo

• a tempo - resume previous tempo
• tempo primo - go back to original tempo

Continue Into New Section

• segue - continue into new section, do not stop
• l'istesso tempo - continue at the same tempo

Tempo list by:  http://www.members.aol.com/stlmetros/terms.html. St. Louis Metro Singers

All the graphics on this page were designed by matt.