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, grade 2, grade 3 and grade 4 terms as well as the following: | |
| ITALIAN: | |
| attacca | go straight on to the next section of music |
| dolente | sad, mournful |
| dolore | grief |
| doppio movimento | twice as fast |
| estinto | as soft as possible |
| incalzando | getting quicker |
| lacrimoso | sad |
| loco | at the normal pitch |
| lunga | long |
| lusingando | in a sweet and persuasive style |
| misura | measured |
| ossia | or, alternatively |
| piacevole | pleasant |
| piangevole | plaintive, in the style of a lament |
| pochettino, poch. | rather little |
| rinforzando (or rf, rfz) | reinforcing |
| segue | go straight on |
| smorzando, smorz. | dying away in tone and speed |
| teneramente, tenerezza | tenderly |
| tosto | swift, rapid |
| volante | flying, fast |
| GERMAN: | |
| aber | but |
| ausdruck | expression |
| bewegt | with movement |
| breit | broad |
| ein | a, one |
| einfach | simple |
| etwas | somewhat, rather |
| fröhlich | cheerful, joyful |
| immer | always |
| langsam | slow |
| lebhaft | lively |
| mässig | at a moderate speed |
| mit | with |
| nicht | not |
| ohne | without |
| ruhig | peaceful |
| schnell | fast |
| sehr | very |
| süss | sweet |
| traurig | sad |
| und | and |
| voll | full |
| wenig | little |
| wieder | again |
| zart | tender, delicate |
| zu | to, too |