Mindy Hoover - Symbols


	Notes
	Double Whole Note Also called a "Breve" Duration: 8 beats
	Whole Note Also called a "Semibreve" Duration: 4 beats
	Half Note Also called a "Minim" Duration: 2 beats
	Quarter Note Also called a "Crotchet" Duration: 1 beat
	Eighth Note Also called a "Quaver" Duration: 1/2 beat
	Sixteenth Note Also called a "Semiquaver" Duration: 1/4 beat
	Dotted Half Note Duration: 3 beats Placing dots to the right of the notehead lengthens that note's value. One dot lengthens the note by one-half its value, two dots by three-quarters, three dots by seven-eighths, and so on. Rests can be dotted in the same way as notes.
	Beamed Notes Beams connect quarter notes and shorter note values.

	Rest
	Whole Rest Also called a "Semibreve" Duration: 4 beats
	Half Rest Also called a "Minim" Duration: 2 beats
	Quarter Rest Also called a "Crotchet" Duration: 1 beat
	Eighth Rest Also called a "Quaver" Duration: 1/2 beat
	Sixteenth Rest Also called a "Semiquaver" Duration: 1/4 beat

	Clefs
	Treble Clef The G clef falling on the second line of the staff.
	Bass Clef The line or space between the dots in this clef denotes F below middle C.
	Alto Clef The C clef falling on the third line of the staff.
	Octave Clef Treble and bass clefs can also be modified by octave numbers. An eight or fifteen above a clef raises the intended pitch range by one or two octaves respectively. Similarly, an eight or fifteen below a clef lowers the pitch range by one or two octaves respectively. A treble clef with an eight below is the most commonly used, often used for tenor lines in choral music.

	Lines
	Staff The most frequently used staff has five horizontal lines, with four spaces, in which the notes and other musical symbols are placed.
	Ledger Short lines placed above and below the staff for pitches outside the range of the staff.
	Measure The space between two bar lines.
	Bar Line The vertical line placed on the staff to divide the music into measures.
	Double Bar Line Two vertical lines placed on the staff to show the end of a section or a composition.

	Pauses
	Breath Mark This symbol tells the performer to take a short breath (or make a slight pause for non-wind instruments). This pause usually does not affect the overall tempo. For stringed instruments it indicates to lift the bow and play the next note with a downward bow.
	Caesura Indicates a brief, silent pause, during which time is not counted. In ensemble playing, time resumes when so indicated by the conductor or leader. More commonly called "railroad tracks" or "tram lines".

	Key Signatures
	Flat Lowers the pitch of a note one half step.
	Double Flat Lowers the pitch one step.
	Natural Cancels a previous sharp or flat.
	Sharp Raises the pitch of a note one-half step.
	Double Sharp Raises the pitch one step.
	Enharmonic A term used to describe notes of the same pitch which have different names.

	Time Signatures
	Time Signature The numbers placed at the beginning of a composition to indicate the meter of the music, e.g. The upper number indicates the beats in a measure; the lower number tells what kind of a note will receive one beat.
	Common Time 4/4 meter.
	Cut Time A meter in which there are two beats in each measure and a half note receives one beat.

	Dynamics
	Pianissimo Very soft. Usually the softest indication in a piece of music.
	Piano Soft. Usually the most often used indication.
	Mezzo-Piano Half as soft as piano.
	Mezzo-Forte Moderately loud. Similarly, half as loud as forte.
	Forte Loud, strong
	Fortissimo Very loud. Usually the loudest indication in a piece.
	Sforzando Literally "forced." An abrupt, fierce accent on a single sound or chord.
	Crescendo Gradually growing louder.
	Diminuendo Also called Decrescendo. Gradually growing softer.

	Articulation Marks
	Staccato The note is to be played shorter than notated, usually half the value, the rest of the metric value is then silent.
	Accent The note is played louder or with a harder attack than any surrounding unaccented notes.
	Marcato The note is played much louder or with a much harder attack than any surrounding unaccented notes.
	Tenuto Hold or sustain a note longer than the indicated value, usually not as long a duration as the fermata.
Fermata An indefinitely-sustained note or chord. A halt in tempo. It can be placed above or below the note.

Ornaments
Trill Performed by the rapid alternation of a given note with a major or minor second above.
Turn Combines an upper mordent and a lower mordent, in that order, into the specified note's value. If the symbol is reversed, the lower mordent is played first.
Mordent An insertion of the semitone below the specified note within its value (this particular case can be called a "lower mordent"). Without the vertical line, the inserted semitone is above the specified note, and the ornament is known as an upper mordent.
Grace Note The first half of the principal note's duration has the pitch of the grace note (the first two-thirds if the principal note is a dotted note).

Repetition and Codas
Repeat Sign Enclose a passage that is to be played more than once.
Segno Mark used with dal segno to. A navagation marker that instructs a musician to repeat a passage starting from the sign.
Da Capo Tells the performer to repeat playing of the song from its beginning. This is followed by al fine, which means to repeat to the word fine and stop, or al coda, which means repeat to the coda sign and then jump forward.
Da Segno Tells the performer to repeat playing of the song starting at the nearest segno. This is followed by al fine or al coda just as with da capo.
Tremolo A rapidly-repeated note. If the tremolo is between two notes, then they are played in rapid alternation. The number of slashes through the stem (or number of diagonal bars between two notes) indicates the frequency at which the note is to be repeated (or alternated). As shown here, the note is to be repeated at a demisemiquaver (thirty-second note) rate.
Simile Marks Denote that preceding groups of beats or measures are to be repeated.
Coda Indicates a forward jump in the song to its ending passage, marked with the same sign. Only used after playing through a D.S. al coda or D.C. al coda.
Volta Brackets Denote that a repeated passage is to be played in different ways on different playings.

Note Relationships
Triplet Condenses three notes into the normal duration of two notes.
Tie Two notes joined together are to be played as one note. This can also indicate a note sustained over two or more measures.
Slur Indicates that the two notes are to be played in one physical stroke, one uninterrupted breath, or (on instruments with neither breath nor bow) connected into a phrase as if played in a single breath. Also known as playing Lagato.
Interval The difference in pitch between two tones.
Octave The eighth tone above a given pitch.

Tempo Markings
Presto — very fast (168–200 bpm) Allegro — fast and bright or "march tempo" (120–168 bpm) Allegretto — moderately fast (but less so than allegro) Moderato — moderately (108–120 bpm) Andante — at a walking pace (76–108 bpm) Adagietto — rather slow (70–80 bpm) Adagio — slow and stately (literally, "at ease") (66–76 bpm) Grave — slow and solemn Largo — Very slow (40–60 bpm) Largamente/Largo — "broadly", very slow (40 bpm and below) Larghissimo — very very slow (20 bpm and below)

Change it Tempo Markings
Accelerando — speeding up (abbreviation: accel.) Meno mosso — less movement or slower Mosso — movement, more lively, or quicker, much like più mosso, but not as extreme Rallentando — slowing down, especially near the end of a section (abbreviation: rall.) Ritardando — slowing down (abbreviation: rit. or more specifically, ritard.) Specific abbreviation is riten. Also sometimes ritenuto does not reflect a tempo change but a character change instead.) Rubato — free adjustment of tempo for expressive purposes Stretto — rushing ahead; temporarily speeding up Stringendo — pressing on faster