Vocabulary Cheat Sheet
A capella: Without accompaniment
A tempo: Return to original tempo
Dolce: Sweetly
Fine: The end
Legato: Smoothly
Molto: Very much, a lot
Poco a poco: Little by little
Subito: Suddenly
Tutti: All together
Fermata: Hold
Flat: Lowers the pitch by ½ step
Sharp: Raises the pitch by ½ step
Natural: Cancels flats and sharps
Coda: An additional ending
Dal Segno: Return to sign
Crescendo: Gradually louder
Decrescendo: Gradually softer
Ritardando: Gradually slower
Accent mark: Emphasis on a certain note
Staccato: Short and detached
Slur: A curved line joining 2 or more notes
of different pitches
Tie: A curved line joining 2 notes of the
same pitch
Pianissimo: Very soft
Piano: Soft
Mezzo Piano: Medium soft
Mezzo Forte: Medium loud
Forte: Loud
Fortissimo: Very loud
Treble Clef
Bass Clef
Metronome marking
Repeat
First Ending
Accelerando: Becoming faster
Largo: Very slow tempo
Presto: Very fast tempo
Allegro: Lively, fast tempo
Moderato: Moderate tempo
Blend: Mixing the same vowels and tones
together equally in a correct manner.
Balance: The volume of each voice part is
equally distributed throughout.
Rhythm: Controlled movement of music in
time.
Meter: Measure of time.
Melody: Dominant tune of the composition.
Voicing: When music splits into parts.
Lyrics: Words in a piece of music.
Harmony: Combination of notes sounded at the
same time to produce chords.
Form: The structure of a piece of music, frame
upon which it is constructed.
Solo: A single performer or a passage that is to
be performed by a single performer.
Duet: A piece of music that is to be performed
by TWO musicians.
Trio: Piece of music performed by 3 solo voices.
Quartet: A piece of music performed by four
solo musicians.
Choir: A group of singers who usually sing in
parts with several voices on each part.
Ensemble: A group of musicians that perform as
a unit.
Soprano: The highest pitched female part.
Alto: A female voice of low range.
Tenor: Highest pitched male part.
Baritone: The most common range of male
voice pitched between the tenor and bass.
Bass: The lowest male part.
Function of Vocal Mechanism:
Soft Palate: Fleshy part toward the back roof of
mouth. Lift for an un-nasally sound.
Pharynx: Throat. Using pharyngeal voice
creates and bright, loud sound.
Larynx: Voice Box. Try to keep neutral to avoid
straining of chords and neck.
Tongue: Tongue position assists with reaching
certain notes and creating certain tones.