Italian music terms are the Italian words that musicians read on a score to know how fast to play (tempo), how loud (dynamics), how to play (technique) and with what mood. The most common are allegro (fast), adagio (slow), piano (soft), forte (loud), crescendo (getting louder) and legato (smooth).
Italian Music Culture
Italian music culture is rich and diverse and has a significant impact on both European and global music scenes. Here, I want to give you an overview of Italy’s rich musical panorama before we dive into a list of Italian words in music.
As you surely know already, Italy is famous for its classical music, being the birthplace of the opera in the late 16th century, which had a significant impact on French and German operatic traditions.
Besides this, each region in Italy offers its unique folk music tradition, which reflects its history, dialect, and cultural influences.
An ancient Italian folk you might know is the tarantella, originated in southern Italy in the 15th century. It is said that it was born as a remedy for tarantula spider bites: dancers whirl in a circle while holding hands and listening to upbeat music.
Chronologically speaking, after World War II, Italy embraced a variety of popular music styles. The Sanremo Music Festival, started in 1951, has been a significant influence on Italian popular music, launching the careers of many of Italy’s most famous singers.
Today, Italy’s music scene includes a mix of rock, electronic, and hip-hop, and it keeps influencing music around the world. To follow how it evolved, read about the evolution of Italian pop music. You can see this influence in the Italian words used in the music of other cultures, as I will show below.
Did you know that music is very helpful to learn languages? Have a look at how you can learn Italian with music.
Italian Musical Terms
Italian Music Terms for Tempo
Determining the speed or tempoof a piece of music is one of the most basic and crucial components of understanding it. The beats per minute (BPM) are the most accurate way for a composer to communicate the intended speed.
However, not all musical pieces have a numerical time indication: for instance, in classical music musicians often use one or more words to describe a piece’s tempo. Not surprisingly, most of these words are Italian, as many of the most famous composers of the 17th century were Italians.
Here is a brief list of the most common Italian music terms for speed:
- Accelerando (accelerating): accelerating;
- Accompagnato (accompanied): the accompaniment must follow the singer who can speed up or slow down at will;
- Adagio (at ease): slow and easy;
- Allegro (joyful): lively and fast;
- Andante (walking): at a walking pace, moderately slow tempo;
- Grave (grave, solemn): slow and solemn tempo;
- Lento (slow): slow tempo;
- Moderato(moderate): moderate tempo;
- Rallentando(slowing down): decelerating;
- Tempo(time): the speed of music, e.g. 120 BPM;
- Tenuto(sustained): holding or sustaining a single note;
- Vivace(vivacious): fast and lively tempo (quicker than allegro).
Italian Tempo Markings from Slowest to Fastest
Here are the most common tempo markings in order. The BPM ranges are approximate, because they vary between sources and periods.
| Term | Meaning | Approximate BPM |
| Largo | broad, very slow | 40-60 |
| Larghetto | a little less slow than largo | 60-66 |
| Adagio | at ease, slow | 66-76 |
| Andante | at a walking pace | 76-108 |
| Moderato | moderate | 108-120 |
| Allegretto | a little lively | 112-120 |
| Allegro | cheerful, fast | 120-156 |
| Vivace | vivacious, very lively | 156-176 |
| Presto | very fast | 168-200 |
| Prestissimo | as fast as possible | above 200 |
Terms that change the tempo during a piece:
- Ritardando (gradually slowing down, abbreviated rit.)
- A tempo (back to the original speed)
- Rubato (literally "stolen": a flexible tempo, speeding up and slowing down with expression)
Italian Music Terms for Dynamics
The dynamics of a piece of music refers to how quietly or loudly it should be performed. Composers use dynamics to change the mood. There are times when a piece has relatively few dynamics and other times when it has a lot of them.
The dynamics are described with Italian music terms and each one has a unique abbreviation:
- Pianissimo (very soft): pp;
- Piano(soft): p;
- Mezzo piano(moderately soft): mp;
- Mezzo forte(moderately loud): mf;
- Forte(loud): f;
- Fortissimo(very loud): ff;
- Crescendo(gradually louder): cresc;
- Diminuendo(gradually softer): dim.
Two more dynamic terms you will see often:
- Sforzando (a sudden, strong accent: sf or sfz)
- Morendo (dying away, getting softer and slower)
Italian Words That Modify a Music Term
Musicians combine a term with a small word to make it stronger, weaker or gradual. For example, molto allegro means “very fast”. These are the words to know:
- Molto (very)
- Assai (very, quite)
- Poco (a little)
- Più (more)
- Meno (less)
- Subito (suddenly, immediately, as in subito piano)
- Sempre (always, as in sempre legato)
- Poco a poco (little by little, as in poco a poco crescendo)
- Non troppo (not too much)
Italian Music Terms for Techniques
A list of terminology related to playing techniques. The terms direct the artist to use a certain playing technique to produce the desired sound.
- Arpeggio: chord notes played in succession rather than simultaneously;
- Glissando: a continuous slide from one note to another;
- Legato: notes played with a smooth connection between them;
- Pizzicato: plucked with the finger rather than bowed;
- Portamento: a smooth slide from one note to another;
- Staccato: shortened and sharply separated notes;
- Staccatissimo: shortened and extremely separated notes;
- Vibrato: a rapid repeated slight change in the pitch of a note;
Italian Music Terms for Moods
Musical terms that indicate a playing style or mood in Italian might be used at the start of a piece of music or throughout it. A composition may have only one mood stated during its duration, or sections may have different moods that switch back and forth regularly.
These musical terms help in the formation of a mental image for the musician, as well as the development of other parts of playing such as the proper flute tone, tempo, and articulation.
The following are some frequently used Italian music terms that you may come across:
- Agitato (agitated);
- Animato(animated, lively);
- Cantabile(in a singing style);
- Dolce (sweet);
- Doloroso(sorrowful);
- Energico(energetic);
- Grazioso(graceful);
- Leggero(light, nimble);
- Maestoso(majestic);
- Risoluto(decisive, strong);
- Scherzando(playful);
- Tranquillo(calm);
Italian Music Terms for Love, Tenderness and Gentleness
Many expression marks describe a gentle or loving mood. If you are looking for the Italian music term for “with love” or “tender”, these are the ones:
- Con amore (with love)
- Amoroso (loving)
- Affettuoso (affectionate, tender)
- Teneramente (tenderly)
- Dolce (sweet, gentle)
- Con dolcezza (with sweetness)
- Sotto voce (in a hushed voice, very quietly)
And some terms for a stronger character:
- Con brio (with vigor)
- Con fuoco (with fire)
- Con moto (with movement)
- Espressivo (expressive)
- Giocoso (playful, jokingly)
- Misterioso (mysterious)
Italian Music Symbols
Some symbols on a score also have Italian names, especially the ones that tell you to repeat or to jump to another part of the piece:
| Name | What it tells the musician |
| Fermata | Hold the note or rest longer. The sign is a dot under an arc. |
| Da capo (D.C.) | Go back to the beginning (“from the head”). |
| Dal segno (D.S.) | Go back to the sign segno. |
| Fine | The end of the piece. |
| Coda | The final section (“tail”) of a piece. |
| Diesis (♯) | Sharp: raise the note by a semitone. |
| Bemolle (♭) | Flat: lower the note by a semitone. |
| Bequadro (♮) | Natural: cancel a sharp or a flat. |
Italian Names of the Notes
In Italian, notes are not called by letters but by syllables: do (C), re (D), mi (E), fa (F), sol (G), la (A) and si (B).
Italian Words for Voices and Opera
Since opera was born in Italy, many of its words are Italian. You can hear them in the most famous Italian opera songs.
- Soprano, mezzosoprano, contralto (the high and middle female voices)
- Tenore, baritono, basso (tenor, baritone and bass: the male voices)
- Aria (a song for one voice in an opera)
- Libretto (the text of an opera, literally "little book")
- A cappella (singing without instruments, literally "in the manner of the chapel")
- Bravo / brava / bravi (well done, said to a man, a woman or a group)
- Maestro (master, the title for a conductor or a great musician)
- Prima donna (the lead female singer, literally "first lady")
Sing Your Italian
I might be biased because I love it, but music is a very important aspect of a culture. Italian musical culture is so rich that it would be a pity if you didn’t know anything about it.
Also, as a linguist, I advise you to make use of music to learn Italian. There are several good Italian songs to learn Italian. In fact, whether you are a beginner or an advanced Italian learner, music will help you improve your language skills.
Dive into the magic of Italian music, and start singing your way to fluency!
