[Guide] ABRSM Grade 5 Musical Terms: English Glossary

Musical terms are easy to underestimate. Students often treat them as vocabulary to memorise the week before an exam, but in real music they are performance instructions: they tell you about speed, weight, tone, character, direction, and sometimes structure.

This expanded glossary keeps the English and Traditional Chinese versions aligned term by term. The core ABRSM Grade 5 list follows the English meanings compiled by MyMusicTheory; the additional terms are included to match the fuller study list used in the zh-HK version.

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

How to Study Terms Properly

Do not learn the words only as dictionary definitions. Learn what each instruction asks a performer to do.

For example, dolce is not just a word to translate. It changes the kind of sound you make. ritardando asks you to shape time towards a musical arrival. sotto voce suggests an undertone, as if the music is speaking privately.

A good study routine is simple:

• say the term aloud
• write the meaning in your own words
• find the marking in a real piece
• decide what changes in tempo, bow, touch, tone, or phrase
• test yourself in both directions: term to meaning, and meaning to term

What Is New in Grade 5

Grade 5 adds a larger group of Italian expressive and structural terms, then broadens the list with common German terms. These are the terms in this glossary that are new after the Grade 4 study list.

Term	English meaning
attacca	Go immediately to next section
dolente	Sorrowful
dolore	Grief, sorrow
estinto	Extinguished; as soft as possible
incalzando	Getting faster and louder
lacrimoso	Tearful; sorrowful
loco	At the written pitch; back to normal position
lunga	Long
lusingando	Coaxing; caressing
misura	Measure; bar
ossia	Or; alternative version
piacevole	Pleasant
piangevole	Plaintive; sorrowful
pochettino	Very little
rinforzando / rf. / rfz.	Reinforcing
segue	Continue
smorzando / smorz.	Dying away in tone and speed
teneramente / tenerezza	Tenderly; tenderness
tosto	Quick
volante	Flying; very fast
aber	But
Ausdruck	Expression
bewegt	Moved; agitated
breit	Broad
ein	One; a
einfach	Simple
etwas	Somewhat
fröhlich	Cheerful
immer	Always
langsam	Slow
lebhaft	Lively
mässig	At a moderate speed
mit	With
nicht	Not
ohne	Without
ruhig	Peaceful
schnell	Fast
sehr	Very
traurig	Sad
und	And
voll	Full
wenig	Little
wieder	Again
zu	To; too
süss	Sweet
doppio movimento	Twice as fast

ABRSM Grade 5 Terms and English Meanings

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
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
attacca	Go immediately to next section
dolente	Sorrowful
dolore	Grief, sorrow
estinto	Extinguished; as soft as possible
incalzando	Getting faster and louder
lacrimoso	Tearful; sorrowful
loco	At the written pitch; back to normal position
lunga	Long
lusingando	Coaxing; caressing
misura	Measure; bar
ossia	Or; alternative version
piacevole	Pleasant
piangevole	Plaintive; sorrowful
pochettino	Very little
rinforzando / rf. / rfz.	Reinforcing
segue	Continue
smorzando / smorz.	Dying away in tone and speed
teneramente / tenerezza	Tenderly; tenderness
tosto	Quick
volante	Flying; very fast
aber	But
Ausdruck	Expression
bewegt	Moved; agitated
breit	Broad
ein	One; a
einfach	Simple
etwas	Somewhat
fröhlich	Cheerful
immer	Always
langsam	Slow
lebhaft	Lively
mässig	At a moderate speed
mit	With
nicht	Not
ohne	Without
ruhig	Peaceful
schnell	Fast
sehr	Very
traurig	Sad
und	And
voll	Full
wenig	Little
wieder	Again
zu	To; too
süss	Sweet
doppio movimento	Twice as fast

A Better Way to Memorise Them

Group the terms by musical action rather than alphabetically.

Tempo words answer: how fast, or how is speed changing?
Dynamic words answer: how loud, or how is intensity changing?
Character words answer: what kind of sound or mood?
Articulation words answer: how do notes touch each other?
Direction words answer: where do I go in the score?

Once a student can sort a term into one of these questions, memorisation becomes much less random.

Final Thought

ABRSM Grade 5 terms are not just a language test. They are a bridge between theory and performance.

If a student learns dolce, ritardando, legato, pesante, and sotto voce only as dictionary answers, the knowledge stays on paper. If they learn how those words change sound, timing, bow, touch, and phrase, the terms become part of musicianship.

That is the real goal: not simply to recognise a foreign word in an exam, but to read a score and know what kind of music it is asking you to make.