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Band Study Guide – 2016
The following common musical terms should be known and understood by all
musicians:
1) Accent - an emphasis placed on a note -
2) Staccato - played in a detached or separated manner -
3) Marcato - Heavily accented and short 4) Tenutto – Sustained for fullest value, legato tongue 5) Slur - indicates that those notes should be played legato. The slur also indicates the
grouping and phrasing of a series of notes.
6) Natural – no alteration to the pitch, or the cancelling out of an accidental -
7) Flat – lower the note a half step -
8) Sharp – raise the note a half step –
9) Half-Step – the smallest difference in sound between two notes that are next to each
other in the chromatic scale –
10) Allegro - lively, fast, or cheerful
11) Moderato – a moderate tempo
12) Andante – walking tempo, medium slow
13) Adagio – slow
14) Grave – very slow!
15) Enharmonic – two notes that share the same pitch (C# and Db are enharmonic)
16) Accelerando – Gradually accelerating or getting faster. Abbreviated by accel.
17) Ritardando - Gradually slowing down or getting slower. Abbreviated by rit.
18) Fermata – the note should be prolonged longer than the written value (i.e. Watch
the Conductor!!)
19) D.C. al Fine – Da Capo al Fine – Repeat back to the beginning of the piece and play to
the Fine marking.
20) D.S. al Fine – Dal sengo al Fine – Repeat back to the sign and then play to the Fine
marking.
You should know the marking, definition, and how it affects the music!