Musical Terms Grade 6 (ABRSM)

Last Updated on 26 May 2026 by Victoria Williams

You can expect just about any musical term or symbol to crop up in a grade six music theory exam!

Here is a list of terms, organised into groups. However, it’s almost impossible to make a “complete” list of terms for this level.
Make sure you also know everything listed under grade five.
Always check the meaning of any new term you come across when you are playing music.

Jump to the Quiz!

1. Tempo – from very slow to very fast

2. Changes in tempo

3. Mood

4. Bowing Directions

There are a lot of different ways a string player can use a bow.
The more common bowing instructions should be learnt for grade six music theory:

Bowing Directions
Arco	With the bow
Spiccato	Bounce the bow
Sul ponticello	Play near the bridge
Con sordino	With the mute
	Up bow
Col legno	With the wood of the bow
Tremolo	Move the bow up and down extremely fast
Pizzicato	Pluck the strings
Senza sordino	Without the mute
	Down bow

5. Other Symbols

The following symbols also need to be learnt:

Other Symbols
	Arpeggio (broken chord). The lowest note is played first, followed by the second, third etc, in quick succession.
	Tremolo (rapidly repeated note). Short diagonal lines across the stem of a note (or notes) show that it should be rapidly repeated. Often you will see “trem.” written above the note as well. A tremolo is a kind of special effect.
	Measured semiquavers. This is a shorthand way of writing out semiquavers or other fast notes. The beams show you which note value is intended. Although it looks similar to a tremolo, it doesn’t sound like one.
	Glissando or portamento (rapidly play the notes between the two notated). This is sometimes seen in piano or trombone music. The musician plays all the notes in between the two notated notes as fast as possible.
	Stopped note. Used for the French horn, this cross instructs the player to move his/her hand further into the instrument’s bell to create a muffled sound. The symbol is a cross or plus sign, over the note affected.

Grade 6 Musical Terms Quiz

Musical Terms Quiz ABRSM Grade 6

1 / 20

What does morendo mean?

loudly

decisively

in an undertone

dying away

2 / 20

Which of these is louder than “forte”?

mezzo forte

moderato

fortissimo

piano

3 / 20

What does a 2 mean?

twice as fast

twice as slow

for two performers

from bar 2

4 / 20

What does presser mean?

slow down

accented

hurry

use the pedal

5 / 20

What does Dampfer mean?

proper, exact

mute

vibrating

silent

6 / 20

What does piacevole mean?

mournful

stately

hurrying

pleasant

7 / 20

What does assez mean?

prominent

and

enough

simple

8 / 20

What does col legno mean?

pluck the string

bounce the bow

with the wood of the bow

use a mute

9 / 20

What does en cedant mean?

prominent

in an undertone

pushing forwards

holding back

10 / 20

What does alla mean?

to the, in the manner of

divide

exact

as above

11 / 20

What does ponticello mean?

finger board (string instrument)

mute

back of bow

bridge (string instrument)

12 / 20

What does tre mean?

very

all

three

flat

13 / 20

What does vif mean?

lively

vigourously

prominent

boisterously

14 / 20

What does dolore mean?

fire

grief

pleasant

nimble

15 / 20

What does sulla mean?

on the

over

until

little

16 / 20

What does en retenant mean?

with flexible timing

hurrying

holding back

in time

17 / 20

What does tacet mean?

heavy

silent

soft

nobly

18 / 20

What does come sopra mean?

as below

as above

with the soprano

without the soprano

19 / 20

What does mit mean?

until

because

with

and

20 / 20

What does doppio movimento mean?

twice as fast

divide into two groups

2nd repeat

2nd movement

Your score is

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