Chapter IX: Auxiliary Words and Endings

96. Being a list of articles, adverbs, conjunctions, prepositions, and endings, often utilized in compounding terms relating to musical effects.

_A_--preposition--variously translated to, at, for, by, in, with, towards.
_A cappella_--in church style.
_A capriccio_--at the fancy of the performer.
_À deux mains_--for two hands.
_A mezza voce_--with half voice.

_À la_, or _alla_--in the manner of. _Alla marcia_--in the style of a march.

_Assai_--very, or very much. _Allegro assai_--very fast.

_Ben_--well. _Ben marcato_--well marked.

_Coi, con, col, colla, colle, collo_--with, or with the.
_Con amore_--with tenderness.
_Colla voce_--with the voice.

_Come_--as, like. _Come primo_--as at first.

_Contra_--against. In compound words means "an octave below."

_Da_--from. _Da Capo_--from the head.

_Di_--by, with, of, for. _Di bravura_--with daring.

_Di molto_--exceedingly--very much. _Allegro di molto_--exceedingly rapid.

_Doppio_--double. _Doppio movimento_--double movement.

_E, ed, et_--and. _Cresc. et accel._--louder and faster.

_Ensemble_--together, the opposite of solo.

_Il, La, l', le_--the. _Il basso_--the bass. _L'istesso tempo_--the same speed.

_Il più_--the most. _Il più forte possible_--as loudly as possible.

_Issimo_--Italian superlative ending. _Forte_--_fortissimo_.

_Ino, etto_--Italian diminutive endings. _Andante_--_andantino_. _Poco_--_pochetto_.

_Meno_--less. _Meno forte_--less loud.

_Mente_--the ending which changes a noun or adjective to an adverb. _Largo largamente_.

_Mezzo_ or _mezza_--half, or medium. _Mezzo forte_--medium loud.

_Molto_--much, or very much. _Molto cresc._--very much louder.

_Nel, nella, etc._--in the, or at the. _Nel battere_--at the down beat.

_Non_--not. _Non tanto_--not too much.

_Ossia_--or else. _Ossia più facile_--or else more easily.

_Per_--for. _Per il violino_--for the violin.

_Peu_--little. _Un peu cresc._--a little increase in tone.

_Più_--more. _Più forte_--more loudly.

_Poco_--little. _Poco a poco_--little by little.

_Poi_--then. _E poi la coda_--and then the coda.

_Possibile_--possible. _Forte possibile_--as loudly as possible. [Transcriber's Note: Corrected error "possible" for Italian "possibile".]

_Quasi_--in the manner of. _Allegro quasi andante_--a fairly rapid movement, yet in the style of an andante; almost as slow as an andante.

_Sans_--without. _Sans pedales_--without pedals.

_Sempre_--always, or continually. _Sempre forte_--a long passage to be played forte throughout its entirety.

_Senza_--without. _Senza accompagnamento_--without accompaniment.

_Sino, sin_--as far as. See p. 14, note.

_Solo_--alone. Opposite of ensemble.

_Sub_--under or lower. _Sub-dominant_--the under dominant.

_Tanto_--same as _troppo_, q.v.

_Tre_--three. _Tre corde_--three strings.

_Très_--very. _Très vivement_--very lively.

_Troppo_--too much. _Non tanto allegro_, or _non troppo allegro_--not too fast.

_Una, un, uno_--one, or a. _Una corda_--one string. _Un peu_--a little.

A working knowledge of these auxiliary terms will aid the student greatly in arriving at the meaning of hundreds of terms without stopping to look up each individual one.