Musical Terms for Choir

Make sure you know how these are used!!!

all terms for this project!• fp• Staccato• legato• tenuto• tie• Natural• Flat• Sharp• Half-Step• Allegro• Moderato• Andante• Dolce• Maestoso• divisi• Accelerando• Ritardando• Fermata• D.C. al Fine• D.S. al Fine

• “forte-piano” = loud/soft– an indication to attack a note and suddenly back

off of the volume for a strong accented note

Find an example of the symbol in the repertoire –

piece & measure number

staccato

• Staccato = separated– not to be confused with short! Used to create sound with space in

between the notes around it.

legato

• legato = smoothly– a term to play a section as connected as possible

Find an example in the literature we are presently working upon

tenuto

• tenuto = “to pull” – holding notes for their full value to stretch or pull

one note to the next

tie• a line connecting two noteheads of the SAME

pitch = this holds the first note for the value of that and the note to which it is tied.

DO NOT CONFUSE IT WITH A SLUR!!Smoothly connects two DIFFERENT notes!!!!

natural/sharp/flat

• a natural negates a sharp or flat• a sharp raises a note by a half step• a flat lowers a note by a half step

half-step

• the smallest interval in Western music – the distance between a note and its immediate neighboring tone– ex. C to C# or D to Eb or E to F (natural ½ step)

allegro

• a term for “fast”

moderato

• a term for “moderate” referring to speed

andante

• literally “walking speed”, a moderate tempo

note with =80 gives you the metronome marking of quarter note equals 80 beats per minute

dolce

• The Italian musical term dolce (“sweet; sweetly”) is an indication to play in a tender, adoring manner; to play sweetly with a light touch.

maestoso

• Definition: The Italian musical term maestoso is an indication to play “majestically”; to perform with grand, dignified expression.

divisi

• divided – “div” – indicates that more than one voice is singing the

next section

find an example in the literature we are performing now

accelerando

• Accelerate = gradually speed up!

ritardando

• to gradually slow down – usually used at the end of a section, phrase or piece.

fermata

• symbol to indicate that a note should be held longer than its value at the discretion of the conductor!

• There are more than one type!!!

d.c. al fine

• Da Capo al Fine = to the beginning and then to the final part – a symbol to repeat a section of music

d.s. al fine

• Dal Segno al Fine = to the sign and then to the final part– a symbol to go to a specific section as a repeat and

then to the end where indicated by the end symbol