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338 Part VII: Appendixes TEAM LinG
Table A-3 (continued)
Number in What It’s What It Means
Figure A-1 Called
21 Crescendo The wedge-shaped symbol is known as a crescendo
and
and indicates that the music gets gradually louder. If
Ritardando the wedge-shaped symbol goes from open to closed,
it indicates a decrescendo, or a gradual softening.
Often, instead of wedges (or, as some musicians call
them, “hairpins”), the abbreviation cresc. or decresc.
appears instead. Another term you can use to indicate
a softening of volume is diminuendo, abbreviated dim.
The abbreviation rit. (sometimes abbreviated ritard.)
stands for ritardando and indicates a gradual slowing
of the tempo. Rallentando (abbreviated rall.) means
the same thing. A gradual increase in tempo you can
indicate by using accel., which stands for accelerando.
22 Slur A slur is a curved line that connects two notes of different
pitch. A slur tells you to connect the notes
smoothly, with no break in the sound.
23 Staccato dot Staccato dots above or below notes tell you to play
the notes short and detached.
24 Accent An accent mark above or below a note tells you to
stress it, or play it louder than normal.
25 Repeat sign The repeat sign tells you to repeat certain measures.
The symbol C brackets the repeated section at the
beginning (in this case, measure 1), and B brackets
it at the end (refer to measure 8 of “Shine On
Harvest Moon”).
26 Ending Sometimes a repeated section starts the same both
brackets times but ends differently. These different endings you
indicate by using numbered ending brackets. Play the
measures under the first ending bracket the first time,
but substitute the measures under the second ending
bracket the second time. Taking “Shine On Harvest
Moon” as an example, you first play measures 1–8;
you then play measures 1–5 again, and then 9–11.