Types Of Articulation In Music

Dynamics and Articulation: The 39 Nigh Important Terms in Music

Mail service author:Jonathan Stark
Postal service published:17/08/2021
Postal service category:Music Theory Light

In music, there are many means to indicate dynamics and articulation. Over time, nonetheless, some terms have become established and are used over and over again. Observe here 39 different dynamic and articulation terms in the four musical languages: Italian, English, German and French.

Italiano	English	Deutsch	Français
accentuato	accentuated	betont	accentué/ponctué
appoggiando	leaning	stützend/betonend	en appuyant
appoggiato/poggiato	leaned	gestützt	appuyé
articolando	articulating	artikulierend	en articulant
articolato	articulated	artikuliert	articulé
ben ritmato	well rhythmed	sehr rhythmisch	bien rythmé
con tutta la forza	with full forcefulness	mit voller Kraft/mit größter Kraft	de toutes ses forces
estinto/spento	extinguished	erlöscht/ausgelöscht	éteint
forte	strong/loud	kräftig/stark/laut	fort
fortissimo	very loud	sehr laut	très fort
forzando	forcing	forcierend/stark betonend	en contraignant
forzato	forced	forciert/stark betont	contraint
glissando	sliding	gleitend	en glissant/glisser
legato/ligado	jump/tied	gebunden	lié
lontano	far away	fern/weit/entfernt	lointain
marcando	marking	markierend	en marquant
marcato	marked	markiert	marqué
martellando	hammering	hämmernd	en martelant
mezzoforte	one-half loud	halblaut/mittelstark	mi-fort
mezzopiano	half soft	halbleise/mittelleise	mi-doux
molto accentuato	very accentuated	sehr betont	très accentué
percosso	struck	geschlagen	percuté
pianissimo	extremely soft	sehr leise	très doucement
pianoforte	soft/low	leise	doucement
più forte possibile	every bit loud as possible	so laut wie möglich	le plus fort possible
più piano possibile	as soft as possible	and so leise wie möglich	le plus doucement possible
portando	carrying over	tragend	en portant
portato	carried over	getragen	porté
quasi niente	almost nada	fast nichts	presque rien
risaltato	emphasized	hervorgehoben	mis en relief
ritmico/ritmato	rhythmical/rhythmic	rhythmisch	rythmique/rythmé
sferzando	whipping	peitschend	en cinglant
sforzato/sforzando	forced/forcing	stark hervorgehoben	forcé/en forçant
slegato/non legato	not slurred	ungebunden	non lié
smorzato	subdued	gedämpft	amorti
sottovoce	"under the voice"/in an undertone	"unter der Stimme"/mit leiser Stimme	à voix basse
staccato	detached	abgestoßen	détaché/piqué
tremolando	trembling/tremolo	tremolierend/bebend	trembloté/trémolo
vibrato	vibrato/"vibrated"	vibriert/Bebung	vibré

Jonathan Stark – Usher

How-do-you-do! I'm Jonathan Stark. As a usher, it is important to me that visits to concerts and operas go out a lasting impression on the audience. Background knowledge helps to achieve this. That's why I blog here about central works of classical music, about composers, about opera and much more that happens in the exciting world of music.

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