Music Notation and Terminology Part 7

_Con amore_--with tenderness.

_Colla voce_--with the voice.

_Come_--as, like. _Come primo_--as at first.

_Contra_--against. In compound words means "an octave below."

_Da_--from. _Da Capo_--from the head.

_Di_--by, with, of, for. _Di bravura_--with daring.

_Di molto_--exceedingly--very much. _Allegro di molto_--exceedingly rapid.

_Doppio_--double. _Doppio movimento_--double movement.

_E, ed, et_--and. _Cresc. et accel._--louder and faster.

_Ensemble_--together, the opposite of solo.

_Il, La, l', le_--the. _Il ba.s.so_--the ba.s.s. _L'istesso tempo_--the same speed.

_Il piu_--the most. _Il piu forte possible_--as loudly as possible.

_Issimo_--Italian superlative ending. _Forte_--_fortissimo_.

_Ino, etto_--Italian diminutive endings. _Andante_--_andantino_.

_Poco_--_pochetto_.

_Meno_--less. _Meno forte_--less loud.

_Mente_--the ending which changes a noun or adjective to an adverb.

_Largo largamente_.

_Mezzo_ or _mezza_--half, or medium. _Mezzo forte_--medium loud.

_Molto_--much, or very much. _Molto cresc._--very much louder.

_Nel, nella, etc._--in the, or at the. _Nel battere_--at the down beat.

_Non_--not. _Non tanto_--not too much.

_Ossia_--or else. _Ossia piu facile_--or else more easily.

_Per_--for. _Per il violino_--for the violin.

_Peu_--little. _Un peu cresc._--a little increase in tone.

_Piu_--more. _Piu forte_--more loudly.

_Poco_--little. _Poco a poco_--little by little.

_Poi_--then. _E poi la coda_--and then the coda.

_Possibile_--possible. _Forte possibile_--as loudly as possible.

[Transcriber's Note: Corrected error "possible" for Italian "possibile".]

_Quasi_--in the manner of. _Allegro quasi andante_--a fairly rapid movement, yet in the style of an andante; almost as slow as an andante.

_Sans_--without. _Sans pedales_--without pedals.

_Sempre_--always, or continually. _Sempre forte_--a long pa.s.sage to be played forte throughout its entirety.

_Senza_--without. _Senza accompagnamento_--without accompaniment.

_Sino, sin_--as far as. See p. 14, note.

_Solo_--alone. Opposite of ensemble.

_Sub_--under or lower. _Sub-dominant_--the under dominant.

_Tanto_--same as _troppo_, q.v.

_Tre_--three. _Tre corde_--three strings.

_Tres_--very. _Tres vivement_--very lively.

_Troppo_--too much. _Non tanto allegro_, or _non troppo allegro_--not too fast.

_Una, un, uno_--one, or a. _Una corda_--one string. _Un peu_--a little.

A working knowledge of these auxiliary terms will aid the student greatly in arriving at the meaning of hundreds of terms without stopping to look up each individual one.

CHAPTER X

MEASURE

97. From the standpoint of the eye, a _measure_ is that portion of the staff found between two bars, (in certain cases this s.p.a.ce may be less than a measure, as _e.g._, at the beginning and end of a movement); but from the standpoint of the ear a single, isolated measure is not possible, and the term must therefore be defined in the plural form.

_Measures_ are similarly accented groups of evenly-s.p.a.ced beats, each group having at least one accented and one non-accented beat. The strongest accent falls normally on the first beat in the measure.

Two essential characteristics are involved in the ordinary musical measure:

(1) A group of even beats (or pulses), always felt, though not always actually sounded, one or more of these beats being stronger than the rest;

(2) Certain rhythmic figures ([Ill.u.s.tration], etc.) which form the actual musical content of these groups.