[Guide] ABRSM Grade 3 Musical Terms: English Glossary

Musical terms become much easier to learn when students can see exactly what belongs to the grade they are preparing. This Grade 3 glossary keeps the vocabulary focused: first the terms that are new at this level, then the full Grade 3 study list.

It follows the same format as the ABRSM Grade 5 musical terms glossary, but with a smaller vocabulary set for Grade 3. Related lists: Grade 2, Grade 4, Grade 5.

For the wider Grade 5 exam context, read this alongside ABRSM Music Theory Grade 5: what students need to learn.

How to Use This List

Use the “what is new” table when moving up from the previous grade, then use the full table for revision. Students should learn each word as a musical instruction, not only as a translation.

A simple routine works well:

• say the term aloud
• write the meaning in your own words
• find the marking in a real piece
• decide whether it changes speed, volume, character, articulation, or score direction
• test both ways: term to meaning, and meaning to term

Grade 3 Terms

Grade 3 has 94 terms in this study list.

What Is New in Grade 3

Term	English meaning
ad libitum / ad lib.	At choice
agitato	Agitated
amore	Love
anima	Soul; spirit
animato	Animated, lively
brio	Vigour
comodo	At a comfortable speed
deciso	With determination
delicato	Delicate
energico	Energetic
forza	Force
largamente	Broadly
leggiero	Light, nimble
marcato / marc.	Emphatic, accented
marziale	Martial; in march style
mesto	Sad
pesante	Heavy
risoluto	Bold, strong
ritmico	Rhythmically
scherzando / scherzoso	Playfully, joking
semplice	Simple, plain
tranquillo	Calm
triste / tristamente	Sorrowful
adagietto	Rather slow; a little faster than adagio
alla breve	With a minim beat
rubato / tempo rubato	With some freedom of time
stringendo	Gradually getting faster
ben	Well
prima / primo	First
seconda / secondo	Second
sempre	Always
subito / sub.	Suddenly
tanto	Much; so much
volta	Time; turn

Full Grade 3 Term List

Term	English meaning
ad libitum / ad lib.	At choice
agitato	Agitated
alla marcia	In the style of a march
amore	Love
anima	Soul; spirit
animato	Animated, lively
brio	Vigour
cantabile	In a singing style
comodo	At a comfortable speed
da capo / D.C.	Repeat from beginning
dal segno / D.S.	Repeat from the sign
deciso	With determination
delicato	Delicate
dolce	Sweet, soft
energico	Energetic
espressivo / espress. / espr.	Expressive
fine	The end
forza	Force
giocoso	Playful, merry
grave	Very slow, solemn
grazioso	Graceful
largamente	Broadly
legato	Smoothly
leggiero	Light, nimble
maestoso	Majestic
marcato / marc.	Emphatic, accented
marziale	Martial; in march style
mesto	Sad
pesante	Heavy
risoluto	Bold, strong
ritmico	Rhythmically
scherzando / scherzoso	Playfully, joking
semplice	Simple, plain
simile / sim.	In the same way
sostenuto	Sustained
staccato / stacc.	Detached
tenuto	Held
tranquillo	Calm
triste / tristamente	Sorrowful
accelerando / accel.	Gradually getting faster
adagietto	Rather slow; a little faster than adagio
adagio	Slow
alla breve	With a minim beat
allargando	Broadening
allegretto	Fairly quick
allegro	Fast
allegro assai	Very fast
andante	At a walking pace
andantino	Slightly faster than andante
larghetto	Rather slow
largo	Slow and stately
lento	Slow
moderato	Moderate speed
mosso / moto	Movement
presto	Fast; faster than allegro
rallentando / rall.	Gradually getting slower
ritardando / ritard. / rit.	Gradually getting slower
rubato / tempo rubato	With some freedom of time
stringendo	Gradually getting faster
tempo	Speed, time
vivace / vivo	Lively, quick
crescendo / cresc.	Gradually getting louder
decrescendo / decresc.	Gradually getting quieter
diminuendo / dim.	Gradually getting quieter
f / forte	Loud
ff / fortissimo	Very loud
fp / fortepiano	Loud, then immediately soft
fz / forzando	Forced, accented
mf / mezzo forte	Moderately loud
mp / mezzo piano	Moderately quiet
p / piano	Quiet
pp / pianissimo	Very quiet
sf / sfz / sforzando / sforzato	Forced, accented
a	At; to; in the style of
al / alla	In the style of; to the
assai	Very
ben	Well
con / col	With
e / ed	And
ma	But
meno	Less
mezzo	Half
molto	Very much
non	Not
più	More
poco	A little
prima / primo	First
seconda / secondo	Second
sempre	Always
senza	Without
subito / sub.	Suddenly
tanto	Much; so much
troppo	Too much
volta	Time; turn

Final Thought

The aim is not to memorise a longer and longer foreign-language list. The aim is to read a score with more confidence. When students understand what these words ask them to do, theory study starts to support real playing and listening.