Accents
Indications instructing the player to put special emphasis on notes.
Accidentals
Sharps, flats and naturals that do not appear in a key signature.
Anacrusis
Sometimes called upbeats or pickup notes; a note or series of notes that precede and give stress to the first downbeat of a piece.
Blocked 6ths
Two notes played together, usually in one hand but sometimes in both, whose distance is the interval of a 6th of any quality.
Grace Notes
Ornamentations that are notated in a smaller size than normal notes and played slightly before them.
Ledger Lines
Additional lines added above or below the staff in order to place very high or very low notes that wouldn't normally fit on the staff.
Legato
A type of articulation indicating the player to play smoothly and seamlessly, with the notes slightly overlapped.
Octave Higher and Octave Lower
Symbols that indicate playing a note or range of notes either an octave higher or lower than notated.
Ritardando
An Italian term meaning "delaying"; an indication instructing the player to decrease speed, often gradually.
Staccato
A type of articulation indicating the player to play short and light; notes not held for their full value.
Sustain Pedal
Also called the damper pedal, it is the rightmost pedal on the piano and used to sustain notes by moving the dampers away from the strings.
Swing 8ths
A technique of playing 8th notes where the first 8th note is held longer than the second of a grouping of two; used often in jazz and blues.
Tenuto
A type of articulation indicating to the player that a given note should be held for its full value or slightly more.
Ties
Symbols indicating that two notes are to be played as one with the value equal to their sum.
Triplets
Notes whose values are determined by a subdivision into three-note groupings instead of two or four.
- Hands Separate Practice
- Play Small Segments
- Slow Practice