Reference · 57 terms

Japanese sheet music
terms, translated

Buying an anime score from a Japanese shop means reading a cover you cannot read. These are the words that actually appear on them, what they mean, and how they are said. No kanji knowledge needed.

A Japanese ensemble performing with two koto, two shakuhachi and a taiko drum

Koto, shakuhachi and taiko. Most of the words below come from the same written tradition that notates this music, even when the score in front of you is for piano.

⏱ Tempo and motion

Tempo and motion

Japanese	Reading	What it means
速く	hayaku	Fast. The plain Japanese equivalent of allegro.
ゆっくり	yukkuri	Slowly. You will see this instead of adagio on a lot of J-pop scores.
中くらいの速さで	chū-kurai no hayasa de	At a moderate speed — moderato.
だんだん速く	dandan hayaku	Gradually faster — accelerando.
だんだん遅く	dandan osoku	Gradually slower — ritardando.
もとのテンポで	moto no tempo de	Back to the original tempo — a tempo.
自由に	jiyū ni	Freely, in your own time — rubato or a piacere.

🔊 How loud

How loud

Japanese	Reading	What it means
強く	tsuyoku	Loudly — forte.
弱く	yowaku	Softly — piano.
だんだん強く	dandan tsuyoku	Getting louder — crescendo.
だんだん弱く	dandan yowaku	Getting softer — diminuendo.

🖐 Hands and pedal

Hands and pedal

Japanese	Reading	What it means
ペダル	pedaru	Pedal. Often shortened to ped. exactly as in Western scores.
踏む	fumu	To press the pedal down.
離す	hanasu	To release it.
右手	migite	Right hand.
左手	hidarite	Left hand.
両手	ryōte	Both hands.
運指 / 指使い	unshi / yubizukai	Fingering.
オクターブ	okutābu	Octave.

🎼 The shape of the song

The shape of the song

Japanese	Reading	What it means
前奏	zensō	Intro.
Aメロ	ei-mero	The first verse. J-pop scores label sections with letters plus メロ (melody).
Bメロ	bī-mero	The pre-chorus, the part that builds.
サビ	sabi	The chorus — the hook. This is the bit everyone actually wants to play.
間奏	kansō	Interlude, the instrumental section between verses.
大サビ	ō-sabi	The final, biggest chorus.
後奏	kōsō	Outro.
繰り返し	kurikaeshi	Repeat.

📄 Words on the cover

Words on the cover

Japanese	Reading	What it means
楽譜	gakufu	Sheet music. The word to search for.
ピアノソロ	piano solo	Solo piano, two hands, one player.
ピアノ連弾	piano rendan	Piano duet, four hands at one keyboard.
弾き語り	hikigatari	Play and sing at the same time — the score has the vocal line and chords.
原曲	genkyoku	The original song, as opposed to the arrangement.
編曲	henkyoku	Arrangement. The person credited here did the transcription.
作曲	sakkyoku	Composition. This is the composer of the original.
作詞	sakushi	Lyrics.
採譜	saifu	Transcription by ear.
移調	ichō	Transposition into another key.

📶 Level, if the cover says one

Level, if the cover says one

Japanese	Reading	What it means
初級	shokyū	Beginner.
中級	chūkyū	Intermediate.
上級	jōkyū	Advanced.
初中級	sho-chūkyū	Between beginner and intermediate — a very common label.
入門	nyūmon	Absolute beginner, first steps.

🎹 Theory words

Theory words

Japanese	Reading	What it means
調	chō	Key. ハ長調 is C major, イ短調 is A minor.
長調	chōchō	Major key.
短調	tanchō	Minor key.
拍子	hyōshi	Time signature.
小節	shōsetsu	Bar, measure.
音符	onpu	Note.
休符	kyūfu	Rest.
コード	kōdo	Chord, written in the usual letter names.

📺 Anime words you will meet

Anime words you will meet

Japanese	Reading	What it means
主題歌	shudaika	Theme song.
オープニング / OP	ōpuningu	Opening.
エンディング / ED	endingu	Ending.
挿入歌	sōnyūka	Insert song, one that plays inside an episode.
劇伴	gekiban	The background score — the instrumental music under the scenes. Most of what this site arranges is 劇伴.
サウンドトラック / サントラ	saundotorakku / santora	Soundtrack. サントラ is the everyday short form.
キャラクターソング	kyarakutā songu	A character song, sung in character by the voice actor.

One last thing

If you would rather skip the kanji

Every arrangement on this site is written in standard Western notation with English markings, and the level and page count are taken from the PDF itself rather than guessed. Browse by series, by level or by composer.

Japanese sheet musicterms, translated