accelerando
Americanadverb
adjective
noun
Usage
What does accelerando mean? Accelerando describes a tempo that is gradually increasing in speed.In music, accelerando tells a musician to play increasingly faster. Typically, music’s speed, or tempo, is denoted in beats per minute (BPM). When the BPM changes, the tempo of the music instantly changes. But when a tempo change is marked with an accelerando command, it will gradually increase over the notes indicated rather than changing instantly.Accelerando commands are often used in music to create a sense of urgency, excitement, or increasing emotion as the tempo increases.Example: We still need to work on that accelerando section because some of the instruments are dragging.
Etymology
Origin of accelerando
1835–45; < Italian < Latin accelerandus, gerundive of accelerāre to speed up. See accelerate
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Just as the familiar tune “In the Hall of the Mountain King” gradually builds speed “accelerando,” as the compositional notation is known, some birdsong does too, like that of the nightingale.
From New York Times
“He was ready,” Hughes wrote, “with big rallentendos when they were needed for expansive lifts and with accelerandos when fleet footwork was involved.”
From Washington Post
He will add accelerandos, add ritardandos; he will change things in his own piece.
From New York Times
On Friday, during the elaborate “Fledermaus” overture there were moments of shaky coordination; a few accelerandos started out tentatively before settling into a groove.
From New York Times
Mr. Fischer is of this second school, and here he displayed a malleable pulse, amply yet sensibly using driven accelerandos and aching rubatos.
From New York Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
