For the ABRSM grade 3 music theory exam, you’re going to need to know some Italian words and symbols and what they mean.
Although it can seem quite daunting at first, don’t worry; you’ll pick them up with a bit of work.
Read on below for all the grade 3 Italian musical terms so you can start getting to know them.
The Grade 3 Italian Music Terms
| Grade 3 Italian Terms | Definition |
| ad libitum, ad lib. | at pleasure, to be played freely |
| adagietto | rather slow |
| agitato | agitated |
| alla breve | with a minim (half-note) beat |
| amore | love (amoroso — loving) |
| anima | soul, spirit |
| animando | becoming lively |
| animato | animated, lively |
| ben | well |
| brio | vigor |
| comodo | convenient, comfortable |
| deciso | with determination |
| delicato | delicate |
| energico | energetic |
| forza | force |
| largamente | broadly |
| leggiero | light, nimble |
| marcato / marc. | emphatic, accented |
| marziale | in a military style |
| mesto | sad |
| pesante | heavy |
| prima / primo | first |
| risoluto | bold, strong |
| ritmico | rhythmically |
| rubato / tempo rubato | with some freedom of time |
| scherzando / scherzoso | playful, joking |
| seconda / secondo | second |
| semplice | simple, plain |
| sempre | always |
| stringendo | gradually getting faster |
| subito | suddenly |
| tanto | so much |
| tranquillo | calm |
| triste / tristamente | sad, sorrowful |
| volta | time (prima volta — first time) |
Grade 3 Italian Terms Quiz
Time for a quiz!
See how well you know the above grade 3 performance terms by taking the quiz below.
Good luck!
Aside from all these grade 3 Italian terms and symbols, if you’re doing your grade 3 exam, you’ll need to know the words and symbols from grades 1 and 2.
Below you’ll find links to those words and the terms you’ll need to know for grades 4 and 5 once you’re finished with these.
Grade 1 Performance Directions
Grade 2 Performance Directions
Grade 4 Performance Directions
Grade 5 Performance Directions
Or if you’re done with learning performance directions for a bit, you can head back to read more of our lessons on our learn music theory.
