| A cappella | Sung with no instrumental accompaniment |
| Accelerando | accelerating |
| Acciaccatura | An extra, very fast grace note |
| Accompagnato | The accompaniment must follow the singer who can speed up or slow down at will |
| Adagietto | Faster than adagio; or a short adagio composition |
| Adagio | Slow, but not as slow as largo |
| Affettuoso | Tenderly |
| Affrettando | accelerating |
| Agitato | Excited and fast |
| alla marcia | In strict tempo at a marching pace (e.g. 120 bpm) |
| Allargando | slowing down and broadening, becoming more stately and majestic, possibly louder |
| Allegretto | Slightly slower than allegro |
| Allegro | Moderately fast |
| Altissimo | Very high |
| Alto | Second-highest vocal line |
| Andante | Moderately slow, flowing along |
| Animato | Animated |
| Appoggiatura | A type of ornament |
| Aria | A song, esp. one from an opera |
| Arietta | A short or light aria |
| Arpeggio | A chord with the notes spread out in time |
| Assai | Used with other terms, such as allegro assai |
| Attacca | Proceed to the next section without pause |
| Ballabile | (song) to be danced to |
| Basso | Or ""bass;"" the lowest vocal line |
| Basso continuo | Continuous bass accompaniment (see figured bass.) |
| Basso profondo | A very deep bass voice |
| Battaglia | A piece suggesting a battle |
| Bel canto | Any fine singing, esp. that popular in 18th and 19th c. Italian opera |
| Bergamasca | A peasant dance from Bergamo |
| Bocca chiusa | Wordless humming in a choral piece |
| Bravo! | a cry of congratulation to a male singer or performer. Fem. brava, pl. bravi, fem.pl. brave |
| Bravura | A performance of extraordinary virtuosity |
| Brillante | Brilliant, bright |
| Bruscamente | Brusquely |
| Burletta | A light comic or farcical opera |
| Cadenza | A florid solo at the end of a performance |
| Calando | Becoming softer and slower |
| Cambiare | Any change, such as to a new instrument |
| Campana | A bell used in an orchestra; also campane ""bells"" |
| Cantabile | In a singing style |
| Cantata | A piece for orchestra and singers |
| Capriccio | A lively piece of music |
| Castrato | A male singer, castrated so as to be able to sing soprano (now sung by women, conventional countertenors, or sopranisti) |
| Chiuso | Calls for a horn to be muted by hand |
| Coda | The end of a piece |
| Col arco | Cancels ""col legno"" and ""pizzicato"" (in a string passage, arco is usually expected and is not written.) |
| Col legno | Calls for a bowed instrument to be struck with the wood rather than the hair of the bow |
| Colla voce | A note to accompanists to play with (in time with) the singer, especially when slowing for textual effect |
| Coloratura | Elaborate ornamentation of a vocal line |
| Comodo | Unrestrainedly |
| Comprimario/a | A supporting role |
| Con amore | with love |
| Con brio (Con Spirito) | With spirit |
| Con fuoco | with fiery manner |
| Con moto | With movement |
| Con sordino | Calls for mute to be applied, esp. to string instruments. |
| Concertino | A short concerto; the solo instrument in a concerto |
| Concertino | The smaller, more virtuosic, group of musicians in a concerto grosso |
| Concerto | A work for one or more solo instruments accompanied by an orchestra |
| Concerto grosso | A Baroque form of concerto, with a group of solo instruments |
| Contralto | Alto, esp. a female alto |
| Coperti | Of a drum, muted with a cloth |
| Cornetto | An old woodwind instrument |
| Crescendo | Becoming louder |
| Dal Segno | Abbreviated as D.S., informs the performer to repeat a specific section marked by a sign (segno) |
| Decrescendo | Becoming softer |
| Diminuendo | Becoming softer |
| Divisi | Instructs one section to divide into two or more separate sections, each playing a separate part. Often these separate parts are written on the same staff. |
| Dolce | Sweet |
| Due corde | With the soft pedal, on a piano. For why both terms exist, see piano. |
| Falsetto | High male voice, affecting a female voice |
| Fermata | Marks a note to be held or sustained |
| Forte | Loud |
| Fortissimo | Very loud |
| Grazioso | With charm |
| Intermezzo | A short connecting instrumental movement |
| Larghetto | Not as slow as largo |
| Largo | Slow and dignified |
| Lento | Slow |
| Libretto | A work containing the words to an opera or musical |
| ma non troppo | But not too much, such as allegro ma non troppo |
| Maestoso | Stately |
| Maestro | Conductor, music director, music teacher, also composer and other eminent musicians and singers |
| Maestro collaboratore | Assistant conductor |
| Maestro sostituto | Assistant conductor |
| Maestro suggeritore | Prompter |
| Meno | Used with other terms, such as meno mosso |
| Mezzo forte | Moderately loud |
| Mezzo piano | Moderately soft |
| Mezzo-soprano | Between soprano and alto |
| Misterioso | Mysteriously, secretively, enigmatic |
| Moderato | At a moderate speed |
| Molto | Used with other terms, such as molto allegro |
| Oboe d'amore | A Baroque woodwind instrument |
| Opera | A drama set to music for singers and instrumentalists |
| Opera buffa | A comic opera |
| Opera seria | An opera with a serious, esp. classical theme |
| Orchestra | An ensemble of instruments |
| Pianissimo | Very soft |
| Piano | Soft |
| Piano(forte) | A keyboard instrument |
| Piccolo | A tiny woodwind instrument |
| Più | Used with other terms, such as più mosso |
| Pizzicato | Calls for a bowed instrument to be plucked with the fingers |
| Poco | a little. Used with other terms, such as poco diminuendo |
| Poco a poco | little by little, ""slowly but steadily"". Used with other terms, such as poco a poco crescendo |
| Prestissimo | Very very fast, as fast as possible |
| Presto | Very fast |
| Prima donna | Leading female role |
| Primo uomo | Leading male role |
| Rallentando | decelerating |
| Ripieno | The larger group of musicians in a concerto grosso |
| Ritardando | decelerating |
| Rubato | free flowing and exempt from steady rhythm |
| Scherzando | Playfully |
| Scordatura | Alternate tuning (of strings) |
| Semplicemente | Simply |
| Senza sordino | Calls for mute to be removed, esp. from string instruments. |
| Sforzando | Sharply accented |
| Sonata | A composition for one or two instruments in sonata form |
| Soprano | The highest vocal line |
| Sotto | Subdued |
| Tempo | The speed of a piece of music |
| Tenuto | holding or sustaining a single note |
| Timpani | Large drums |
| Tre corde or tutte le corde | Cancels an una corda |
| Tuba | A large brass instrument |
| Una corda | With the soft pedal, on a piano |
| viola | A medium-sized stringed instrument |
| Viola da braccio | A stringed instrument held in the arm, such as a violin or viola |
| Viola da gamba | A stringed instrument held between the legs |
| Viola d'amore | A tenor viol with no frets |
| Vivace | up-tempo |