Articulation and Technique

English	Italian	French	German	Spanish	Usage note
Heavily	pesante	pesant	schwer	pesado	Weighty touch or character
Sustained	sostenuto	soutenu	getragen	sostenido	Support notes and phrases. In Spanish, sostenido also means sharp (♯).
Detached	staccato	piqué	abgestoßen	picado	Separate the notes; length depends on context. French détaché is a bowing, not staccato.
Connected	legato	lié	gebunden	ligado	Smoothly connected tones
Marked	marcato	marqué	markiert	marcado	Clearly emphasized attacks
Accented	accentato	accentué	betont	acentuado	Emphasized note or gesture
Full length	tenuto	tenu	gehalten	tenuto	Often full value or gentle emphasis
Separated but connected	portato	louré	portato	portato	Intermediate articulation; instrument-dependent
Very short	staccatissimo	très court	sehr kurz	muy picado	Shorter, more emphatic detachment
Flowing	scorrevole	coulant	fließend	fluido	Flowing passagework
Clearly	distinto	distinctement	deutlich	claramente	Articulate each note clearly
With a pause	fermata	point d’orgue	Fermate	calderón	Hold beyond notated value; duration is contextual
Take a breath	respirare	respirer	atmen	respirar	Breath or phrasing separation
Pause in the flow	cesura	césure	Zäsur	cesura	Momentary break, often shown by caesura sign
Sung	cantato	chanté	gesungen	cantado	Sung rather than spoken
Spoken	parlato	parlé	gesprochen	hablado	Spoken rather than sung delivery
Whispered	sussurrato	chuchoté	geflüstert	susurrado	Quiet speech-like vocal effect
Without vibrato	senza vibrato	sans vibrato	ohne Vibrato	sin vibrato	Avoid deliberate pitch oscillation
With vibrato	con vibrato	avec vibrato	mit Vibrato	con vibrato	Apply vibrato as stylistically appropriate
With mute	con sordino	avec sourdine	mit Dämpfer	con sordina	Use a mute; device varies by instrument
Without mute	senza sordino	sans sourdine	ohne Dämpfer	sin sordina	Remove mute
Plucked	pizzicato	pizzicato	gezupft	pizzicato	Pluck bowed-string instrument
Bowed	arco	avec l’archet	mit dem Bogen	con arco	Resume bowing
Near bridge	sul ponticello	près du chevalet	am Steg	cerca del puente	Bowed-string contact near bridge
Over fingerboard	sul tasto	sur la touche	am Griffbrett	sobre el diapasón	Bowed-string contact over fingerboard
With bow wood	col legno	avec le bois de l’archet	mit dem Bogenholz	con la madera del arco	Battuto strikes the strings with the wood; tratto draws it across them.
Natural harmonic	armonico naturale	harmonique naturel	natürliches Flageolett	armónico natural	String lightly touched at node
Tremolo	tremolo	trémolo	Tremolo	trémolo	Rapid repetition or alternation; may be measured
Trill	trillo	trille	Triller	trino	Rapid alternation with neighbor note
Turn	gruppetto	gruppetto	Doppelschlag	grupeto	Ornament around principal pitch
Short grace note	acciaccatura	acciaccature	kurzer Vorschlag	apoyatura breve	A crushed grace note, played as quickly as possible
Slide	glissando	glissando	Glissando	glissando	Continuous or discrete pitch transition by instrument
Expressive slide	portamento	portamento	Portamento	portamento	Audible connection between pitches
Spread chord	arpeggiato	arpégé	arpeggiert	arpegiado	Sound chord tones successively
Repeat	ripetere	répéter	wiederholen	repetir	Play material again

Other chapters: Tempo and Pacing · Dynamics and Expression · Navigation and Ensemble · Musical Concepts and Score Vocabulary

Some entries are plain translations used in rehearsal rather than printed markings. Meaning can shift with era and instrument. These are the standard words printed in scores. Usage varies by edition, publisher and period.

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