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Music vocabulary · Rhythm, Meter and Tempo

Accelerando

Meaning in music, with examples

adverbCommon term

In music, accelerando means: A direction to increase the tempo gradually over a passage rather than change immediately to a new speed.

In Turkish: hızlanarak, giderek hızlanarak

How it is used

Appears in scores, often shortened to accel. In rehearsal, agree where the increase starts and which tempo it should reach.

Example sentences

  1. Begin the accelerando after the drum fill and reach the new tempo at the chorus.

    The band has both a starting point and a target for its gradual speed increase.

  2. The conductor made the accelerando clearer by gradually tightening her beat pattern.

    Her gestures communicate the changing speed so the ensemble can accelerate together.

Common collocations

  • gradual accelerando
  • marked accelerando
  • accelerando passage
  • tempoThe speed of a piece of music, usually measured in beats per minute (BPM) or shown with Italian words such as allegro (fast) or adagio (slow).
  • conductorThe person who leads an orchestra or choir, setting the tempo, showing entries and shaping the performance with hand movements or a baton.
  • beatThe steady pulse that you tap your foot to in a piece of music. Beats are grouped into bars, and their speed is the tempo.

More terms: Rhythm, Meter and Tempo

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