Absolute Pitch
The ability to know a pitch’s name by just by hearing it played. Also called Perfect Pitch

Accelerando
(Italian) Slowly start to play faster

Accent Mark
This is put above a note to be played louder than the rest of the notes

Accentato

(Italian) Accented, with emphasis

Accidental
A sharp, flat or natural that is not in the key signature

Accompagnato
(Italian) Accompanied

Accompaniment
What the musicians/band plays to support the melody

Achtel
(German) Eighth note

Achtelpause
(German) Eighth rest

Acoustic
An instrument that is not amplified by electricity

Acoustics
The science of sound

Action
The mechanism that makes the string of a keyboard sound when the key is pressed.

ad lib ABBREVIATION
“ad libitum”

Ad libitum
(Latin) At liberty. If a piece is marked with this, the composer is telling the performer to play that part however they see fit

Adagietto

(Italian) Very slow (70-80 BPM)

Adagio
(Italian) Slow, stately, leisurely (66-76 BPM)

Adagissimo
(Italian) Very, very slow

Addolorato
(Italian) Sorrowful

Adorno
(Spanish) Ornament, Embellishment

Adufe
(Portuguese) A small square or rectangle drum usually made from pine wood and covered with goatskin. Some Adufe's include small objects inside such as bells or dried seeds, so that the adufe will make a nice rattle when shaken. The Adufe dates back to at least 700 A.D. and is believed to have originated in North Africa.

Advance
Money given to an artist in advance prior to an album release, etc., that is deducted from future royalties

Aeolian
One of the Church Modes, based on the 6th tone of the Major Scale

Aeolian Harp
An ancient musical instrument, traditionally a wooden box that is strung with guitar strings and placed where wind can blow over the strings to produce the sound. It is named after Aeolus, the Greek god of wind

Aerophone
an instrument that creates sound by vibration of a body of air, without the use of strings or membranes, and without the vibration of the instrument itself, the fourth category of the Hornbostel-Sachs system

Affettuoso
with emotion

Affrettando
(Italian) Hurried

Agitato
(Italian) Agitated

Agnus Dei
In the Roman Catholic mass, the fifth acclamation ("Behold the Lamb of God")

Agraffe
On a piano, a tuning pin that anchors the string

anon. ABBREVIATION
“anonymous”

Appassionato
(Italian) Passionately

Appoggiatura
One or more grace notes that take up some of the value of the next note

Arabesque
A melodic, decorative type of piano piece

Árbol de marca
(Spanish) Wind chimes

Arbre de marque
(French) Wind chimes

Architectural acoustics
The study of how the structure of a building affects the sound

Aria
A type of piece that is expressive, melodious

Arietta
Short aria

Arioso
(Italian) Melodic

Armonica (MORE)
A musical instrument that uses glass bowls of varying sizes to produce certain tones. Also known as hydrocrystalophone

Arpa   (MORE)
(Italian) Harp

Arpadeboca
(Spanish) Jew's Harp

Arpeggio
(Italian) A broken chord, usually played up and/or down the keyboard in more than one octave

Articulation
The separation or connecting of notes, i.e. staccato and legato

arr. ABBREVIATION
“arrangement” or “arranged by”

Arrangement
An adaptation of a piece already written, usually for a different instrument than originally written

Articulation
Separating notes into groupings when playing music, i.e. phrasing, staccato, accent, etc

As
(German) A-flat

A.S.C.A.P. (MORE)
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, which is a Performance Rights Organization in the U.S.

Assai
(Italian) Very, very much, rather

Assembly
In the military, a bugle call used to signal the troops to assemble at a designated location

Asta
(Italian) Stem

Atabal
(Spanish) Timpani

Attacca
(Italian) Attack

Atonal
A term used to describe a composition written without using a key signature or scale

Attention
In the military, a bugle call used to signal to the troops a call to "attention"

Au mouvement
(French) play at the first tempo or at the main tempo

Aubade
(French) Morning music, usually in the royal court

Auflösungszeichen
(German) The "natural" symbol

Auftakt
(German) Upbeat

Augment
To make bigger, as in an interval

Ausdrucksvoll
(German) Expressively

Authentic Cadence (MORE)
A chord progression of V-I (dominant to tonic)

Autophone (MORE)
In music, an instrument that produces sound by vibrating itself without use of strings or other types of resonators. It is considered one of the earliest types of musical instruments and is sometimes called idiophones. An example of an autophone is a triangle

Ave Maria
(Latin) Hail Mary. A hymn or prayer generally used in The Roman Catholic Church

Ave Regina
(Latin) Hail Queen. A hymn or prayer generally used in The Roman Catholic Church

Avec
(French) with

Axe
(Slang) Instrument