Expression: music symbols explained

113 symbols and terms, each explained in a sentence or two — the same dictionary the free Artform score reader uses when you tap a marking on a real score.

dolce

Sweetly. Gentle tone, unforced.

espressivo

With expression: shape the line, do not simply play the notes.

cantabile

In a singing style. Make the melody sound like a voice, with breath and line.

sostenuto

Sustained. Hold the sound, often with a slight broadening of the pace.

tranquillo

Calmly, peacefully.

grazioso

Gracefully.

maestoso

Majestically. Broad and dignified.

con moto

With motion: keep it moving forward.

douxDoux

Soft, sweet, gentle.

Léger

Light. A shallow, unweighted touch.

Très luisant

Very shining, very glossy. One of Satie's private instructions to the player: he wrote dozens of these, meant to be read rather than obeyed literally, and asked that they never be read aloud to an audience.

Questionnez

Question. Play the phrase as though asking something, leaving it open rather than settled.

Du bout de la pensée

From the very tip of thought. An instruction about attention rather than technique: the sound barely formed, as if only just decided on.

Postulez en vous-même

Postulate within yourself. Satie asking the player to be privately certain of something he does not name.

Pas à pas

Step by step. Deliberate and measured, one note placed after another.

Sur la langue

On the tongue. A taste rather than a sound: something held in the mouth, savoured, not swallowed.

Conseillez-vous soigneusement

Advise yourself carefully. Another of the private instructions, this one from the third Gnossienne.

zartZart

Tender, delicate.

Ausdrucksvoll

Full of expression.

Alla marcia

In the manner of a march. Squared off, on the beat, with weight on the first of each pair.

Teneramente

Tenderly. Close, warm and unpressed.

Affettuoso

Affectionately. Tender, and a little indulgent with time.

Amabile

Amiably. Warm and companionable.

Soave

Suavely, smoothly, sweetly. A gentler cousin of dolce.

Delicato

Delicately. Fine-boned, and easily broken by too much arm.

Semplice

Simply. No rubato, no colouring: let the tune be the tune.

Innocente

Innocently. Plain, childlike, unshaded.

Lusingando

Coaxing, flattering. Play as if persuading somebody.

Sensibile

Sensitively. Responsive to the line rather than to the bar.

Cantando

Singing. The same idea as cantabile, told as an action rather than a style.

Con grazia

With grace. Light on its feet and never pressed.

Elegante

Elegantly. Poised, unhurried, and never overdone.

Calmo

Calmly. Settled and unhurried.

Placido

Placidly. Untroubled, with a level surface.

Quieto

Quietly, in the sense of stillness rather than volume.

Sereno

Serenely. Clear and untroubled.

Sotto voce

Under the voice. Hushed, as though not meant to be overheard: quiet AND withdrawn.

Mormorando

Murmuring. An undertone: present, but not addressed to anybody.

Misterioso

Mysteriously. Held back, veiled, never fully declared.

Estinto

Extinguished. As near to nothing as a sound can be and still be there.

Devoto

Devoutly. Prayerful, and usually very still.

Pastorale

In a pastoral manner. Usually compound time, usually a drone underneath.

Rustico

Rustic. Rough-edged and countrified, often with a drone.

Sospirando

Sighing. A small yield at the end of each figure, as a breath would give.

Mesto

Sadly. Plain and unadorned grief, not a display of it.

Triste

Sadly. The plainest of the sorrowful words.

Con dolore

With grief. Heavy, and slower in feeling than in fact.

Lacrimoso

Tearfully. The line sags, and it is meant to.

Lamentoso

Lamenting. A complaint rather than a sorrow.

Malinconico

Melancholy. Inward, and quieter than it looks on the page.

Flebile

Plaintively. Thin, mournful, a little frail.

Languido

Languidly. Without energy, and without apology for it.

Stanco

Wearily. Tired, and it should sound like it.

Funebre

Funereal. Marcia funebre is a funeral march: slow, heavy, in step.

Solenne

Solemnly. Ceremonial, unhurried, and without warmth.

Serioso

Seriously. Weight of intent rather than weight of sound.

Agitato

Agitated. Restless and driven, without the tempo actually changing.

Appassionato

Passionately. Full weight, full commitment, nothing held in reserve.

Con fuoco

With fire. Hard-driven and hot.

Furioso

Furiously. Anger rather than speed, though it usually gets both.

Feroce

Ferociously. Wild, and meant to be uncomfortable.

Tempestoso

Stormily. Turbulent, with the weather changing inside the phrase.

Tumultuoso

Tumultuously. Crowded and unruly.

Strepitoso

Noisily, boisterously. Deliberate din.

Energico

Energetically. Muscular and forward.

Con forza

With force. Weight put behind the note deliberately.

Vigoroso

Vigorously. Strong and healthy rather than violent.

Slancio

With impulse. Thrown forward, as if launched.

Bruscamente

Brusquely. Abrupt, with no cushioning at either end.

Giocoso

Playfully. Joking, light, a little mischievous.

Scherzando

Jokingly. Light, quick-witted, and never earnest.

Capriccioso

Capriciously. Changeable, playful, refusing to settle.

Con brio

With spirit. Energy and sparkle, not volume.

Con spirito

With spirit. Lively and awake.

Animato

Animated. Alive and forward-leaning.

Brillante

Brilliantly. Bright, showy, and meant to glitter.

Festivo

Festively. Bright and celebratory.

Volante

Flying. Light and skimming, barely touching the keys.

Veloce

Swiftly. About the fingers rather than the tempo: the passage flies, the beat need not.

Parlando

Speaking. Shape it like a sentence, with the unevenness of speech.

Grandioso

Grandly. Big-boned and unhurried, with space around the sound.

Nobilmente

Nobly. Elgar's favourite marking: broad, upright, no showing off.

Eroico

Heroically. Broad, noble and unafraid of the sound.

Pomposo

Pompously. Ceremonial and deliberately overblown.

Marziale

Martial. In the manner of a march: squared, on the beat, with a lift.

Imperioso

Imperiously. Commanding, and expecting to be obeyed.

Deciso

Decisively. Every note meant, nothing tentative.

Risoluto

Resolutely. Firm, decided, and rhythmically upright.

Ardito

Boldly. Confident to the point of daring.

Sonoro

Resonant. Full tone, letting the instrument ring.

Ritmico

Rhythmically. The pulse is the point of the passage.

Giusto

Exact. In strict time, with no give in the pulse.

Expressif

Expressively. Shape the line rather than lay it out.

Chantant

Singing. The French cantabile.

Calme

Calm, still.

Lourd

Heavy.

Sombre

Dark, sombre.

Mélancolique

Melancholy.

Joyeux

Joyful, bright.

Tendre

Tender.

Mystérieux

Mysterious, veiled.

Éclatant

Blazing, brilliant, with a hard shine on the sound.

Doucement

Gently, softly.

Ruhig

Peaceful, calm.

Schwer

Heavy, weighty.

Leicht

Light.

Kräftig

Strong, powerful.

Innig

Heartfelt, inward. Schumann's word, and it means intimate rather than loud.

Feierlich

Solemn, ceremonial.

Heiter

Cheerful, serene.

Traurig

Sad.

Zärtlich

Tenderly.

Mit Ausdruck

With expression.

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