[Guide] ABRSM Grade 4 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 4 glossary keeps the vocabulary focused: first the terms that are new at this level, then the full Grade 4 study list.

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

Grade 4 has 139 terms in this study list.

What Is New in Grade 4

Term	English meaning
affettuoso	Tenderly; affectionately
affrettando	Hurrying; becoming faster
amabile	Amiable, pleasant
appassionato	With passion
calando	Getting softer and slower; dying away
cantando	Singing
come	As, similar to
espressione	Expression
facile	Easy; fluent
fuoco	Fire; passion
giusto	Proper; strict; suitable
l'istesso	The same
morendo	Dying away
niente	Nothing; silence
nobilmente	Nobly
perdendosi	Dying away
possibile	Possible; as much as possible
quasi	As if, resembling
sonoro	Resonant, with a rich tone
sopra	Above
sotto	Under; below
veloce	Fast; rapid
voce	Voice
animé	Animated, lively
assez	Enough; rather
avec	With
cédez	Slow down; yield
douce	Sweet, soft
en dehors	Prominent; standing out
et	And
léger	Light
légèrement	Lightly
lent	Slow
mais	But
moins	Less
modéré	At a moderate speed
non	Not
peu	Little
plus	More
presser	Press on; get faster
ralentir	Slow down
sans	Without
très	Very
un / une	One; a
vif	Lively
vite	Quick

Full Grade 4 Term List

Term	English meaning
accelerando / accel.	Gradually getting faster
ad libitum / ad lib.	At choice
adagietto	Rather slow; a little faster than adagio
adagio	Slow
affettuoso	Tenderly; affectionately
affrettando	Hurrying; becoming faster
agitato	Agitated
al / alla	In the style of; to the
alla breve	With a minim beat
alla marcia	In the style of a march
allargando	Broadening
allegretto	Fairly quick
allegro	Fast
allegro assai	Very fast
amabile	Amiable, pleasant
amore	Love
andante	At a walking pace
andantino	Slightly faster than andante
anima	Soul; spirit
animato	Animated, lively
appassionato	With passion
assai	Very
ben	Well
brio	Vigour
calando	Getting softer and slower; dying away
cantabile	In a singing style
cantando	Singing
come	As, similar to
comodo	At a comfortable speed
con / col	With
crescendo / cresc.	Gradually getting louder
da capo / D.C.	Repeat from beginning
dal segno / D.S.	Repeat from the sign
deciso	With determination
decrescendo / decresc.	Gradually getting quieter
delicato	Delicate
diminuendo / dim.	Gradually getting quieter
dolce	Sweet, soft
e / ed	And
energico	Energetic
espressione	Expression
espressivo / espress. / espr.	Expressive
f / forte	Loud
facile	Easy; fluent
ff / fortissimo	Very loud
fine	The end
forza	Force
fp / fortepiano	Loud, then immediately soft
fuoco	Fire; passion
giocoso	Playful, merry
giusto	Proper; strict; suitable
grave	Very slow, solemn
grazioso	Graceful
largamente	Broadly
larghetto	Rather slow
largo	Slow and stately
legato	Smoothly
leggiero	Light, nimble
lento	Slow
l'istesso	The same
ma	But
maestoso	Majestic
marcato / marc.	Emphatic, accented
marziale	Martial; in march style
meno	Less
mesto	Sad
mezzo	Half
mf / mezzo forte	Moderately loud
moderato	Moderate speed
molto	Very much
morendo	Dying away
mosso / moto	Movement
mp / mezzo piano	Moderately quiet
niente	Nothing; silence
nobilmente	Nobly
non	Not
p / piano	Quiet
perdendosi	Dying away
pesante	Heavy
più	More
poco	A little
possibile	Possible; as much as possible
pp / pianissimo	Very quiet
presto	Fast; faster than allegro
prima / primo	First
quasi	As if, resembling
rallentando / rall.	Gradually getting slower
risoluto	Bold, strong
ritardando / ritard. / rit.	Gradually getting slower
ritenuto / riten. / rit.	Held back
ritmico	Rhythmically
rubato / tempo rubato	With some freedom of time
scherzando / scherzoso	Playfully, joking
seconda / secondo	Second
semplice	Simple, plain
sempre	Always
senza	Without
sf / sfz / sforzando / sforzato	Forced, accented
simile / sim.	In the same way
sonoro	Resonant, with a rich tone
sopra	Above
sostenuto	Sustained
sotto	Under; below
staccato / stacc.	Detached
stringendo	Gradually getting faster
subito / sub.	Suddenly
tanto	Much; so much
tempo	Speed, time
tenuto	Held
tranquillo	Calm
triste / tristamente	Sorrowful
troppo	Too much
veloce	Fast; rapid
vivace / vivo	Lively, quick
voce	Voice
volta	Time; turn
animé	Animated, lively
assez	Enough; rather
avec	With
cédez	Slow down; yield
douce	Sweet, soft
en dehors	Prominent; standing out
et	And
léger	Light
légèrement	Lightly
lent	Slow
mais	But
moins	Less
modéré	At a moderate speed
peu	Little
plus	More
presser	Press on; get faster
ralentir	Slow down
sans	Without
très	Very
un / une	One; a
vif	Lively
vite	Quick

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.