Glossary of Musical Terminology - R

R

• rallentando or rall.: Broadening of the tempo (often not discernible from ritardando); progressively slower
• rapido: fast
• rapide (Fr): fast
• rasch (Ger): fast
• ravvivando: quicken pace
• recitativo: recitatively; one voice without accompaniment
• religioso: religiously
• repente: suddenly
• restez (Fr): stay; i.e., remain on a note or string
• retenu (Fr): hold back; same as the Italian ritenuto (see below)
• ridicolosamente: humorously, inaccurate, and loosely
• rinforzando (rf, or rinf.): reinforced; i.e., emphasized; sometimes like a sudden crescendo, but often applied to a single note
• risoluto: resolutely
• rit.: an abbreviation for ritardando; also an abbreviation for ritenuto
• ritardando, ritard., rit.: slowing down; decelerating; opposite of accelerando
• ritenuto, riten., rit.: suddenly slower, held back (usually more so but more temporarily than a ritardando, and it may, unlike ritardando, apply to a single note)
• ritmico: rhythmical
• ritmo: rhythm, e.g. ritmo di # battute meaning a rhythm of # measures
• ritornello : a recurring passage for orchestra in the first or final movement of a solo concerto or aria (also in works for chorus).
• rolled chord: see arpeggiato in this list
• roulade (Fr): a rolling; i.e., a florid vocal phrase
• rondo: a musical form in which a certain section returns repeatedly, interspersed with other sections: ABACA is a typical structure or ABACABA
• rubato: robbed; i.e., flexible in tempo, applied to notes within a musical phrase for expressive effect
• ruhig (Ger): peaceful
• run: a rapid series of ascending or descending musical notes which are closely spaced in pitch forming a scale
• ruvido: roughly