In every grade you will be tested on your knowledge of various musical terms, signs and symbols. No video can help you learn these – it’s just a case of taking a deep breath and learning each term one-by-one. Of course, every time you look at a piece of music see what terms and symbols are used – if you’re not sure what something is, look it up or ask a music teacher. You’ll be amazed what you can learn just by looking at a piece of music.
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If an exam question asks for the meaning of a symbol don’t just give the English translation of the word. For example, if you were asked to give the meaning of the following symbol:
Don’t just give the answer as “Forte”; this is not the meaning. A perfect answer would be “loud” or “forte, which means loud”.
| All grade 1 and grade 2 terms as well as the following: | |
| adagietto | rather slow |
| ad libitum, ad lib | a passage may be played freely |
| agitato | agitated |
| alla breve | with a minim beat. Implying a faster tempo than the note values may suggest. |
| amore | love |
| anima | soul, spirit |
| animato | animated, lively |
| ben | well |
| brio | vigour |
| comodo | convenient |
| deciso | with determination |
| delicato | delicate |
| energico | energetic |
| forza | force |
| largamente | broadly |
| leggiero | light, nimble |
| marcato or marc. | emphatic, accented |
| marziale | in a military style |
| mesto | sad |
| pesante | heavy |
| prima, primo | first |
| risoluto | bold, strong |
| ritmico | rhythmically |
| rubato, tempo rubato | slight freedom of time |
| scherzando, scherzoso | playful, joking |
| seconda, secondo | second |
| semplice | simple, plain |
| sempre | always |
| stringendo | gradually getting faster |
| subito | suddenly |
| tanto | so much |
| tranquillo | calm |
| triste, tristamente | sad, sorrowful |
| volta | time |