Terms 1
This means soft in music.
What is piano?
Plucking the strings of a stringed instrument.
What is pizzicato?
This means loud in music.
What is forte?
One quarter note plus one half note.
What is 3 beats ?
This is the musical "fraction" found at the beginning of a song.
What is a time signature?
A curved line connecting the heads of two notes of the same pitch.
What is a tie?
Sharply detached or separated.
What is staccato?
Play in a smooth flowing manner, without breaks between notes.
What is legato?
One half note plus one whole note.
What is 6 beats ?
This means very soft in music.
What is pianissimo?
This means very loud in music.
A curved line that indicates notes are to be played without separation.
What is a slur?
This is a gradual change from soft to loud.
What is a crescendo?
One eighth note plus one quarter note.
What is 1 1/2 beats ?
This is a gradual change from loud to soft.
What is a decrescendo?
A mark on a piece of music instructing the player to replay a certain passage or section.
What is a repeat sign?
Bow the strings of a stringed instrument.
What is arco?
A gradual decrease of speed.
What is ritardando?
One dotted half note plus one half note.
What is 5 beats ?
A symbol used in sheet music to indicate that a note should be held longer than its standard duration. The length that the note can be held is up to the artist or conductor.
What is a fermata?
A symbol used in sheet music to denote where the final passage of a piece begins. This tells the orchestra when to proceed to the beginning of the final passage.
What is a coda?
A style of staccato playing on stringed instruments involving bouncing the bow on the strings.
What is spiccato?
A chord of notes broken and played in sequence. For example, C Major would be C-E-G-C.
What is an arpeggio?
One whole note plus one dotted half note.
What is 7 beats ?
A bowing technique for stringed instruments, in which successive notes are gently re-articulated while being joined under a single continuing bow stroke.
What is portato?