| Tempo | |||
| adagio | slowly | lento | slowly |
| andante | at an easy walking pace | largo | broadly |
| moderato | at a moderate speed | allegretto | moderately fast |
| allegro | cheerful and fast | vivace | lively, fast |
| presto | very fast | vivo | alive, lively |
| Modifications of Tempo | |||
| accelerando (accel.) | gradually becoming faster | a tempo | return to former speed |
| rallentando (rall.) | gradually becoming slower | allargando | becoming broader |
| ritardando (rit.) | gradually becoming slower | piu mosso | quicker |
| ritenuto (riten.) (rit.) | held back | meno mosso | slower |
| Dynamics | |||
| crescendo (cres.) (cresc.) | gradually becoming louder | pianissimo (pp) | very soft |
| decrescendo (decres.) (decresc.) | fortissimo (ff) | very loud | |
| diminuendo (dim.) | gradually becoming softer | mezzo forte (mf) | moderately loud |
| forte (f) | loud | mezzo piano (mp) | moderately soft |
| piano (p) | soft | ||
| Other Terms | |||
| legato | smoothly, well connected | senza | without |
| staccato | detached, short | cantabile | in a singing style |
| maestoso | majestic | leggiero | lightly |
| sostenuto | sustained | fine | the end |
| sempre | always | dal segno | from the sign |
| poco | a little | da capo al fine | from the beginning to the word fine |
| molto | very | mezzo staccato | moderately short and detached |