ritard
- noun
- /rɪˈtɑrd/
- Specialized
:
ritardando
- She used a ritard in her performance to gently slow down before the last chord.
Examples
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Ensemble settings are ideal for asking about and discussing how a phrase should feel, how much crescendo is needed, which articulation best conveys the desired effect, which tempo is most suitable, and how much ritard seems appropriate.
Academic text (1990) -
Printed music provides the opportunity for children to recognize and learn the uses of such things as crescendos, ritards, meter changes, first and second endings, repeat signs, and dynamic markings.
Academic text (2003) -
She said yes, the sixteenth notes only confused things, and her ritard at the end really didn't sound like 34; it ended too soon.
Academic text (1992) -
A few possibilities include muting melody lines, changing volume, adding ritards, and altering timbres.
Academic text (2004) -
The conductor signaled for a ritard to give the piece a more dramatic ending.
-
During practice, the pianist added a ritard to emphasize the final notes of the song.
Synonyms
A gradual slowing of the music's speed
Gradually make the music slower
To slow down gradually and sound broader and fuller
How Slow
Surface Forms
Etymology
Ritard comes from the Italian musical word ritardando, from the verb ritardare, which means 'to delay' or 'to make slow'. So a ritard as a noun is a direction that tells the players to slow the tempo little by little.
