Review of Musical Terms

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When you see an ACCENT SIGN over or under a note, play that note louder. The Accent Sign is placed over or under a note which gets a special emphasis.

a sharp or flat which is not given in the key signature

Crescendo

- gradually louder

De Capo al Fine (D.C al Fine) - this musical term means that you have to repeat from the beginning and play to the Fine (end).

Diminuendo gradually softer

Dynamic Signs - signs that show how loud or soft to play.

Fine - the end

First Ending

- the measures under the bracket should be played the 1st time only.

Flat Sign

- lowers a note in half a step. Play the next key to the left.

Forte - loud

Half Step - the distance from one key to the very next one.

Harmonic Interval - the next musical term concerns the interval between two tones which are played at the same time.

Incomplete Measure - a measure at the beginning of a piece with fewer counts than shown in the time signature. The missing counts appear in the last measure.

Interval - the difference in pitch (highness or lowness) between two notes.

Key Signature - the number of sharps or flats in any key written at the beginning of a piece.

Legato - smoothly connected. Usually indicated by a slur over or under the notes.

Major Scale - a series of 8 notes made of two tetra chords joined by a whole step.

Melodic Interval - this musical term concerns the interval between two notes which are play separately.

Mezzo Forte - moderately loud

Moderato - moderately

Natural Sign - cancels a sharp or flat

Octave sign - when placed OVER notes, It means that you have to play a phrase octave (8 notes) higher then written.

Pedal Mark - press the damper pedal, hold it, and release it.

Piano - soft

Repeat Signs repeat from the beginning

Repeat the measures between the double bars.

Ritardando(abbreviated retard. Or rit.) - gradually slowing.

Second ending the measure under the bracket are played the 2nd time only.

Sharp Sign raises a note in half a step. Play the next key to the right.

Staccato - separated or detached. Usually indicated by a dot over or under the note.

Tempo - rate of speed.

Tetra chord - The next musical term relates to four notes in an alphabetical order, that have a pattern of

WHOLE STEP, WHOLE STEP, HALF STEP.

Time signatures - numbers written at the beginning of a piece or section of a piece.

The top number shows the number of beats that should be counted in each measure.

The bottom number tells us what is the lengh of one beat.

Whole Step - two half steps. The distance between two keys with one key between.

Wow! We're done with the first level! I bet you're already curious what's in the second level.
It's time for some piano theory.
I'd like us to take a steps further and start to get to know some theoretical terms and develope our musical ear in a deeper level of understanding.

So in the next piano lesson we're going to dicuss the musical interval.

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