| Term | Description |
|---|
| narrante | narratingly |
| naturale or nat. | natural; i.e., discontinue a special effect, such as col legno, sul tasto, sul ponticello, or playing in harmonics |
| N.C. | No chord, written in the chord row of music notation to show there is no chord being played, and no implied harmony. |
| Nebenstimme (Ger) | under part; i.e., a secondary contrapuntal part, always occurring simultaneously with, and subsidiary to, the Hauptstimme |
| nicht (Ger) | not |
| nobile or nobilmente | in a noble fashion |
| notes inégales (Fr) | unequal notes; i.e., a principally Baroque performance practice of applying long-short rhythms to pairs of notes written as equal |
| omaggio | homage, celebration |
| one voice per part, or OVPP | the practice of using solo voices on each musical line or part in choral music. |
| ossia | or instead; i.e., according to some specified alternative way of performing a passage, which is marked with a footnote, additional small notes, or an additional staff |
| ostinato | obstinate, persistent; i.e., a short musical pattern that is repeated throughout an entire composition or portion of a composition |
| ottava | octave; e.g. ottava bassa: an octave lower |
| parlando or parlante | like speech, enunciated |
| Partitur (Ger) | full orchestral score |
| passionato | passionately |
| pastorale | in a pastoral style, peaceful and simple |
| pausa | rest |
| pedale | pedal |
| perdendosi | dying away |
| pesante | heavy, ponderous |
| peu à peu (Fr) | little by little |
| pianissimo or pp (usually) | very gently; i.e., perform very softly, even softer than piano. This convention can be extended; the more ps that are written, the softer the composer wants the musician to play or sing, thus ppp (pianississimo) would be softer than pp. Note: any dynamics in a piece should always be interpreted relative to the other dynamics in the same piece. For example, pp should be executed as softly as possible, but if ppp is found later in the piece, pp should be markedly louder than ppp. Likewise, ff should be executed as loudly as possible, but if fff is found later in the piece, ff should be noticeably quieter. More than three ps (ppp) or three fs (fff) are uncommon. |
| piano or p (usually) | gently; i.e., played or sung softly (see dynamics) |
| piano vocal score | the same as a vocal score, a piano arrangement along with the vocal parts of an opera, cantata, or similar |
| piacevole | pleasant |
| piangevole | plaintive |
| più | more; see mosso for an example |
| pizzicato | pinched, plucked; i.e., in music for bowed strings, plucked with the fingers as opposed to played with the bow; compare arco (in this list), which is inserted to cancel a pizzicato instruction |
| pochettino or poch. | very little |
| poco | a little, as in poco più allegro (a little faster) |
| poco a poco | little by little |
| poi | then, indicating a subsequent instruction in a sequence; diminuendo poi subito fortissimo, for example: getting softer then suddenly very loud |
| portamento | carrying; i.e., 1. generally, sliding in pitch from one note to another, usually pausing just above or below the final pitch, then sliding quickly to that pitch. If no pause is executed, then it is a basic glissando; or 2. in piano music, an articulation between legato and staccato, like portato, in this list |
| portato | carried; i.e., non-legato, but not as detached as staccato |
| posato | settled |
| potpourri or pot-pourri (Fr) | potpourri (as used in other senses in English); i.e., a kind of musical form structured as ABCDEF... etc.; the same as medley or, sometimes, fantasia |
| precipitato | precipitately |
| prestissimo | extremely quickly, as fast as possible |
| presto | very quickly |
| prima volta | the first time; for example prima volta senza accompagnamento (the first time without accompaniment) |
| primo or prima (the feminine form) | first |
