Page:Essentials of music theory (1912).djvu/17

Rh a sudden strong accent to the note or chord over or under which it is placed; the rinforzando (which is not quite so marked as the forzando); the staccato (designated by a dot placed over or under the note or chord) which makes the note thus indicated short and crisp, and the sycopation, which is a form of rhythm displacing the natural accent by the note's entrance on an unaccented part of the measure and its sustentation through the pulse.

The rapidity of the occurrence of pulses is called tempo, which is indicated at the beginning of a movement by Italian words usually, the most common of which are as follows:—

Grave, slow and solemn (the slowest tempo).

Largo, slow, a trifle faster than Grave.

Larghetto, a trifle faster than Largo.

Adagio, a trifle faster than Larghetto.

Lento, slow.

Andante, moderately slow.

Andantino, translated literally means slower than Andante, but it is more often used incorrectly meaning faster than Andante.

Moderato, moderate; the mediate between fast and slow.

Allegretto, cheerful.

Allegro, quick.

Vivo, quick.

Presto, very quick.

To many of the above words is added the ending issimo which gives the word to which it is added its superlative degree. Other terms are oftentimes combined with the above words to characterize the movement. Every pupil should have a dictionary of musical terms for constant reference.

The majority of piano students have an absolute disregard for note values and tempo marks which are so important