| Keyword | Excerpt (click on keyword for complete article) |
| À capella | (It.) Singing without instrumental accompaniment. |
| A deux cordes | See À due corde. |
| À due | Both instrument on the same part play (used after a solo section). |
| À due corde | (It., Fr.: "a deux cordes" or "deux cordes") "On two strings". Often shortened to just "due corde". In piano music this occasionally indicates the release of the soft pedal. |
| À prima vista | It.: "At sight". |
| À Punto | It.: "At the point". String instruments play with (or near) the point of the bow. |
| À tempo | It.: "In time". Back to the original tempo. |
| À tre corde | (It., Fr.: "a tres cordes" or "tres cordes")"On three strings". Often shortened to just "tre corde". In piano music: release he soft pedal. |
| A tres cordes | See À tre corde. |
| À vista | It.: "At sight". |
| Abend | (Ger.) Evening. |
| Accel | Abbreviation of Accelerando |
| Accelerando | It.: "Accelrate". Abbrevi.: "accel." Increase tempo gradually. Also sometimes called "accelerato". |
| Accelerato | See Accelerando. |
| Accent | Emphasizing a musical sound or note by playing it slightly louder. |
| Accent sign | The sign > above or below a note indicates that the note should be accentuated |
| Acciaccatura | (It.) A crushed dissonant note of the shortest possible duration played before or after the main note or chord and immediately released. |
| Ad lib | See Ad libitum. |
| Ad libitum | (Ad lib) "Freely". In classical music this usually means free tempo and dynamics, in jazz, pop, rock etc. it means an improvised solo. |
| Adagietto | (It.) "Small adagio", that is, either a short piece in adagio (slow) tempo or a piece that is to be played slow, but not quite as slow as adagio. |
