_Il, La, l', le_--the. _Il basso_--the bass. _L'istesso tempo_--the same speed.
_Il più_--the most. _Il più forte possible_--as loudly as possible.
_Issimo_--Italian superlative ending. _Forte_--_fortissimo_.
_Ino, etto_--Italian diminutive endings. _Andante_--_andantino_. _Poco_--_pochetto_.
_Mente_--the ending which changes a noun or adjective to an adverb. _Largo largamente_.
_Mezzo_ or _mezza_--half, or medium. _Mezzo forte_--medium loud.
_Molto_--much, or very much. _Molto cresc._--very much louder.
_Nel, nella, etc._--in the, or at the. _Nel battere_--at the down beat.
_Ossia_--or else. _Ossia più facile_--or else more easily.
_Per_--for. _Per il violino_--for the violin.
_Peu_--little. _Un peu cresc._--a little increase in tone.
_Poco_--little. _Poco a poco_--little by little.
_Poi_--then. _E poi la coda_--and then the coda.
_Possibile_--possible. _Forte possibile_--as loudly as possible. [Transcriber's Note: Corrected error "possible" for Italian "possibile".]
_Quasi_--in the manner of. _Allegro quasi andante_--a fairly rapid movement, yet in the style of an andante; almost as slow as an andante.
_Sans_--without. _Sans pedales_--without pedals.
_Sempre_--always, or continually. _Sempre forte_--a long passage to be played forte throughout its entirety.
_Senza_--without. _Senza accompagnamento_--without accompaniment.
_Sub_--under or lower. _Sub-dominant_--the under dominant.
_Tre_--three. _Tre corde_--three strings.
_Très_--very. _Très vivement_--very lively.
_Troppo_--too much. _Non tanto allegro_, or _non troppo allegro_--not too fast.
_Una, un, uno_--one, or a. _Una corda_--one string. _Un peu_--a little.
A working knowledge of these auxiliary terms will aid the student greatly in arriving at the meaning of hundreds of terms without stopping to look up each individual one.
97. From the standpoint of the eye, a _measure_ is that portion of the staff found between two bars, (in certain cases this space may be less than a measure, as _e.g._, at the beginning and end of a movement); but from the standpoint of the ear a single, isolated measure is not possible, and the term must therefore be defined in the plural form.
_Measures_ are similarly accented groups of evenly-spaced beats, each group having at least one accented and one non-accented beat. The strongest accent falls normally on the first beat in the measure.