Dansm's Musical Notation for Guitar
Terms Used in Music
allegro
dan A tempo marking meaning "fast."
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andante
dan A tempo marking meaning "slow."
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crescendo
dan Italian for "growing louder;" a marking indicating an increase in volume.
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coda
dan Additional new material appearing at the end of a piece of music. A coda is indicated by a coda sign. For more on codas, click here.
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decrescendo
dan Italian for "growing softer;" a marking indicating a decrease in volume.
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key signature
dan The marking at the beginning of a segment of music indicating the key of that segment. For more on key signatures, click here.
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moderato
dan A tempo marking meaning "moderately."
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repeat
dan Repeating a segment of music. A repeat is indicated by repeat signs. For more on repeats, click here.
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ritard
dan Italian for "slow down;" a marking indicating a decrease in tempo.
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second ending
dan Repeating a segment of music but using a different ending. For more on second endings, click here.
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staccato
dan A marking indicating that a note should be played short. It is represented by a small dot (.) over the note. Technically, the note should be played half as long as the regular note (i.e. a staccato quarter note should be as long as a normal eighth note).
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staff
dan The five lines representing pitches.
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tempo
dan The speed of the beats in a piece of music.
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time signature
dan The marking at the beginning of a piece of music indicating the number of beats in a measure and the type of note that gets one beat. For more on time signatures, click here.
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I will add more words in the coming weeks, so check back! I hope these pages have helped you understand the stuff you see in tab books. Good luck!
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© 1997 Daniel E. Smith. Last updated 7-9-97