Origin of accelerando
Words nearby accelerando
MORE ABOUT ACCELERANDO
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.
Where does accelerando come from?
The first records of the term accelerando come from around the 1830s. It is an Italian term that comes from the Latin accelerāre, meaning “to speed up.”
In the Western world, languages use Italian terms for music. In addition to accelerando, you might hear ritardando, meaning “becoming gradually slower,” crescendo, meaning “rising in volume,” and staccato, meaning “light and sharp,” among many others.
You might also hear accelerando used outside of music as an exaggerated or playful way to tell someone to speed up what they are doing. While this is especially used by musicians, who would be most familiar with the term, it might be used by anyone who’s familiar with it.
Did you know … ?
How is accelerando used in real life?
Accelerando is most frequently used in the context of music, especially as a part of music theory or as a direction.
Filmmakers, composers, and playwrights carefully author the time dimension of their work. The feeling of a pregnant pause and an accelerando comes from viewers' experience of passing time. Those mediums express a few hours’ evolving experience—what about days, months, years? 👇
— Andy Matuschak (@andy_matuschak) February 8, 2020
The crescendo and accelerando of “I Want You” always been interesting. Like a heart racing.
— 🆃🆁🆄🅳🆈 (@thetrudz) May 10, 2020
The accelerando in Come On Eileen always gives me such anxiety
— Timson (@tim2party) November 7, 2017
Try using accelerando!
Is accelerando used correctly in the following sentence?
Tamica added an accelerando to her composition because she wanted a slow, steady pace.
How to use accelerando in a sentence
It breaks out again vivacissimo accelerando when Miss Sally (whom we allude to) wakes up, and doesn't appreciate Nestlé's milk.Somehow Good|William de Morgan
The mute symphony of the snow was played imperceptibly accelerando.Two on the Trail|Hulbert Footner
Accelerando, affrettando (this term implies some degree of excitement also), stringendo, poco a poco animato.Music Notation and Terminology|Karl W. Gehrkens
Or we can gradually increase or decrease our tempo, creating accelerando and rallentando effects.Irradiations; Sand and Spray|John Gould Fletcher
But he did not get to the direction accelerando, for he stopped short, and said abruptly, "Well—what next?"A Likely Story|William De Morgan