1. Musical Terms for Choir Make sure you know how these are used!!!

2. all terms for this project! fp Staccato legato tenuto tie Natural Flat Sharp Half-Step Allegro Moderato Andante Dolce Maestoso divisi Accelerando Ritardando Fermata D.C. al Fine D.S. al Fine

3. “forte-piano” = loud/soft – an indication to attack a note and suddenly back off of the volume for a strong accented note Find an example of the symbol in the repertoire – piece & measure number

4. staccato Staccato = separated – not to be confused with short! Used to create sound with space in between the notes around it.

5. legato legato = smoothly – a term to play a section as connected as possible Find an example in the literature we are presently working upon

6. tenuto tenuto = “to pull” – holding notes for their full value to stretch or pull one note to the next

7. tie a line connecting two noteheads of the SAME pitch = this holds the first note for the value of that and the note to which it is tied. DO NOT CONFUSE IT WITH A SLUR!! Smoothly connects two DIFFERENT notes!!!!

8. natural/sharp/flat a natural negates a sharp or flat a sharp raises a note by a half step a flat lowers a note by a half step

9. half-step the smallest interval in Western music – the distance between a note and its immediate neighboring tone – ex. C to C# or D to Eb or E to F (natural ½ step)

10. allegro a term for “fast”

11. moderato a term for “moderate” referring to speed

12. andante literally “walking speed”, a moderate tempo note with =80 gives you the metronome marking of quarter note equals 80 beats per minute

13. dolce The Italian musical term dolce (“sweet; sweetly”) is an indication to play in a tender, adoring manner; to play sweetly with a light touch.

14. maestoso Definition: The Italian musical term maestoso is an indication to play “majestically”; to perform with grand, dignified expression.

15. divisi divided – “div” – indicates that more than one voice is singing the next section find an example in the literature we are performing now

16. accelerando Accelerate = gradually speed up!

17. ritardando to gradually slow down – usually used at the end of a section, phrase or piece.

18. fermata symbol to indicate that a note should be held longer than its value at the discretion of the conductor! There are more than one type!!!

19. d.c. al fine Da Capo al Fine = to the beginning and then to the final part – a symbol to repeat a section of music

20. d.s. al fine Dal Segno al Fine = to the sign and then to the final part – a symbol to go to a specific section as a repeat and then to the end where indicated by the end symbol