Musical Terms for Slower

Are you hoping to find some musical terms for slower? Well, in your search, you will see that there are a few terms which can be used to mean that a work should be performed more slower or slowly.

Musical Terms for Slower

As we said, there are a few terms that can refer to the music being played slowly or slower:

• Adagio
• Grave
• Minuet

Let us see what they are and explain them a little bit more.

Adagio

If someone tells you to play a song "adagio," you will be playing one that has a slow tempo. The tune is often restful and it helps to relax the listener. If you are taking a music lesson and someone says "adagio" to you, that probably means that you are going too fast and that you need to slow down in order to match the intended speed of the piece.

Grave

You have probably heard of this word before, but just not in musical terms. Even though it is a different field, the definitions certainly seem to be similar to each other. When someone notes that a song should be played gravely, it means that it must be played extremely slowly in a sedate and somber manner. As the name suggests, you might hear grave music at a funeral. Often, the purpose of the song is an extremely serious one.

Minuet

This word does not necessarily imply for you to go slowly, as much as it names a type of dance. However, since we are looking at "slower" words in the field of music, we think that this term is worth noting. A minuet is a slow dance composed in 3/4ths time. If you are dancing, and someone has to remind you that you are doing a minuet, that individual probably wants you to start dancing a little bit slower.

There are no musical terms for "slower"; however, all of these terms work together so that the artist knows when to slow down.