If you have recently been introduced into the world of Piano, you must’ve come across peculiar words and terms that you may have never heard of before. These terms have roots from Italian, French, German, Spanish and many other languages. But here is the list of common terms you should be familiar with to begin your Piano journey.

1. Allegro –
In music, allegro distinguishes a movement that’s meant to be played very quickly. Your piano teacher might instruct you to try playing a piece allegro. If you’re reading sheet music and you see the word allegro, you’ll know that particular section or movement should be played in a lively, spirited way.

2. Moderato –
Moderato simply means to slow in pace. It’s a passage marked to be played in slow tempo.

3. Andante –
The word andante, particularly common in classical music, is sometimes described as “at a walking pace.” It means moderately slower tempo.

4. Largo –
It is a piece of passage to be played slowly and broadly. The word largo means broad in Italian.

5. Staccato –
It is used to indicate to play each note separately and sharply detached from the others.

6. Legato –
Legato means to play smoothly in a flowing manner without breaks between the notes.

7. Piano –
Yes, that’s the name of the instrument itself. But what does it mean? The term piano means to be performed softly. The piece must sound subdued.

8. Forte –
As opposed to piano, forte means directions or instructions to play an instrument loudly.

9. Crescendo –
It is the loudest / highest point reached in a progressively increasing sound.

10. Decrescendo –
It is to gradually become quieter in decreasing intensity sound.

11. Sharp sign –
It means higher in pitch.

12. Flat sign –
It means lower in pitch

13. Fermanta –
It is also known as pause/hold. It indicates that the note should be prolonged beyond the normal duration it’s note value should indicate.

14. Ritardando –
It means to gradually decrease the tempo or slowing or being late deliberately.