| a poco | a little; gradually | leggiero | lightly |
| a tempo | in time; generally implies a return to the original rate of speed | lento | very slow |
| accelerando | gradually faster | maestoso | majestically |
| adagietto | slow, but not as slow as adagio | marcato | marked; with emphasis |
| adagio | very slow | marcia | march style |
| agitato | agitated; rapid | marziale | martial |
| al fine | to the finish | meno | Less |
| alla | in the style of | mezzo | medium; half |
| allargando | gradually slower and broader | moderato | moderately |
| allegretto | light and moderately quick, but not as fast as allegro | molto | very |
| allegro | rapid; lively | morendo | dying away |
| andante | moderately slow, but moving | mosso | motion; movement |
| andantino | generally a little quicker than andante | moto | motion; movement |
| animato | animated; spirited | non troppo | not too much |
| appassionato | intensely; passionately; with deep feeling | opus | a musical work or composition |
| arioso | in a vocal style | ottava | an octave |
| assai | very | pesante | heavily; with emphasis |
| ben | well | pianissimo | very softly |
| brilliante | brilliantly | piano | softly |
| calando | gradually slower and softer | piu | more |
| cantabile | in a singing style | poco | a little |
| chromatic | by semi-tones | poco a poco | little by little |
| coda | the final added measures of a musical composition | prestissimo | very fast; more so than presto |
| con | with | presto | very fast |
| con amore | with tenderness | primo | first |
| con anima | with animation; spirit | rallentando | gradually slower |
| con brio | with spirit; brilliantly | religioso | in solemn style |
| con forza | with force | ritardando | gradually slower |
| con fuoco | with fire, energy | ritenuto | a steady pace, but slower than the preceding tempo |
| con grazia | with grace | rubato | temporary irregularity of time, lengthening some notes at the expense of others |
| con spirito | with spirit; brilliance | scherzando | in light, playful style |
| crescendo | gradually louder | scherzo | playfully, usually in rapid tempo with rhythmic and dynamic contrasts |
| da capo | from the beginning | segno | the sign |
| dal segno | from the sign | sempre | always; continually |
| decrescendo | gradually softer | senza | without |
| diminuendo | gradually softer | sforzando | forced; with emphasis |
| dolce | sweetly | simile | the same |
| energico | energetically | smorzando | dying away |
| etude | a study | soli | more than one performer in unison |
| fermata | a hold or pause | solo | a composition or passage for one performer |
| forte | loud | sordino | mute |
| fortissimo | very loud | sostenuto | sustained |
| forzando | forcefully accented | staccato | separated, detached style |
| furioso | furiously | stringendo | gradually faster |
| giocoso | joyfully | subito | suddenly |
| grandioso | grand or noble style | tacet | silent |
| grave | very slow or solemn | tempo | time; speed |
| grazioso | gracefully | tempo di valse | waltz time |
| l’istesso | the same | tenuto | sustain full value |
| larghetto | slow, but not as slow as largo | valse | waltz |
| larghissimo | very slow, more so than largo | veloce | very fast |
| largo | very slow | vivace | vivacious; lively |
| legato | smooth and connected | vivo | lively; brisk |