| Tempo | |||
| adagio | slowly | largamente | broadly |
| andante | at an easy walking pace | larghetto | rather broadly |
| moderato | at a moderate speed | prestissimo | extremely fast, or as fast as possible |
| allegro | cheerful and fast | con moto | with movement |
| presto | very fast | ||
| lento | slowly | ||
| largo | broadly | ||
| allegretto | moderately fast | ||
| vivace | lively, fast | ||
| vivo | alive, lively | ||
| Modifications of Tempo | |||
| accelerando (accel.) | gradually becoming faster | ||
| rallentando (rall.) | gradually becoming slower | ||
| ritardando (rit.) | gradually becoming slower | ||
| ritenuto (riten.) (rit.) | held back | ||
| a tempo | return to former speed | ||
| allargando | becoming broader | ||
| piu mosso | quicker | ||
| meno mosso | slower | ||
| Dynamics | |||
| crescendo (cres.) (cresc.) | gradually becoming louder | calando | getting softer and slower |
| decrescendo (decres.) (decresc.) | gradually becoming softer | morendo | dying away |
| diminuendo (dim.) | gradually becoming softer | forte-piano (fp) | loud then immediately |
| forte (f) | loud | sforzando (sf) (sfz) | a strong accent |
| piano (p) | soft | ||
| pianissimo (pp) | very soft | ||
| fortissimo (ff) | very loud | ||
| mezzo forte (mf) | moderately loud | ||
| mezzo piano (mp) | moderately soft | ||
| Other Terms | |||
| legato | smoothly, well connected | con anima | with feeling |
| staccato | detached, short | con brio | with spirit |
| maestoso | majestic | con grazia | with grace |
| sostenuto | sustained | con forza | with force |
| sempre | always | dolce | sweetly |
| poco | a little | risoluto | with resolution |
| molto | very | ben marcato | well marked |
| senza | without | main droite (m.d.) | right hand |
| cantabile | in a singing style | main gauche (m.g.) | left hand |
| leggiero | lightly | una corda | with the soft pedal |
| fine | the end | tre corde | release the soft pedal |
| dal segno | from the sign | ad libitum | at pleasure, quite freely |
| da capo al fine | from the beginning to the word fine | opus | a work or group of works |
| mezzo staccato | moderately short and detached | loco | at normal pitch |
| agitato | with agitation | (after an 8ve sign) | |
| attacca | to go on at once | ||
| animato | with animation | ||
| tranquillo | calmly |