It refers to “a work or movement, often the last movement of a sonata,” having one principal subject that is stated at least three times in the same key and to which return is made after the introduction of each subordinate theme. The term rondo is a technical term for the overall composition of a piece of music. It means “a gradual, steady increase in loudness or force.” Crescendo comes from Italian meaning “growing.” rondo The notation adagio is another tempo notation, meaning “in a leisurely manner slowly.” It comes from the Italian expression ad agio, which means “at ease.” crescendoĬrescendo is one of the musical terms that has come to be used outside of notation. Get your strings in order by understanding the difference between orchestras, philharmonics, and symphonies. While an Italian word, allegro ultimately comes from the Latin alacer, meaning “brisk.”

In music, allegro means “brisk or rapid in tempo.” It can also refer to a movement, or “a principal division or section of a sonata, symphony, or the like,” that uses allegro tempo. In musical notation, however, piano does not refer to the instrument, but literally means “soft,” “subdued,” or “softly.” When a little p, indicating piano appears on sheet music, that is an instruction to play softly. The name for this instrument comes from the Italian piano e forte, meaning “soft and loud,” a description of the two volumes this harpsichord could make. The word piano in Italian literally means “soft.” But most English speakers associate it with the musical instrument. Others have stuck firmly to their musical roots. Some of these have filtered into everyday usage, like crescendo. Read on for a list of some of the many musical terms that come from Italian. With such a long history of musical innovation in what is today known as classical music, it is little surprise that the Italian language dominates musical notation. Finally, during the Baroque period (from the 17th to the mid-18th century), new musical forms such as the sonata, concerto, and opera were invented in Italy. Later, during the Renaissance, Italy became an important site of polyphonic musical notation.

The music staff (a set of five horizontal lines with four spaces) used in sheet music was created by Guido d’Arezzo, a Benedictine monk in Arezzo, Italy, in the 11th century. How did the Italian language come to dominate musical notation? To answer this question, we need to know a little bit about the history of music.

If you take a cursory glance at almost any sheet music, particularly for classical music, you will see a hodgepodge of Italian terms such as piano, staccato, crescendo, just to name a few.

Pizzicato piano