Accelerando vs Ritardando

Side-by-side comparison of two musical terms.

	Accelerando	Ritardando
Definition	Gradually getting faster.	Gradually slowing down
Category	tempo	tempo
Pronunciation	ah-cheh-leh-RAHN-doh	ree-tar-DAHN-doh
Origin	Italian	Italian
BPM	—	—
Synonyms	speeding up quickening	rallentando slowing down
Antonyms	Ritardando Rallentando	accelerando stringendo
Usage	An accelerando through the final bars drives the piece to a thrilling conclusion.	The final bars are marked ritardando, bringing the piece to a gentle close.

Definition: Gradually getting faster.
Category: tempo
Pronunciation: ah-cheh-leh-RAHN-doh
Origin: Italian
Synonyms: speeding up quickening
Antonyms: Ritardando Rallentando
Usage: An accelerando through the final bars drives the piece to a thrilling conclusion.

Definition: Gradually slowing down
Category: tempo
Pronunciation: ree-tar-DAHN-doh
Origin: Italian
Synonyms: rallentando slowing down
Antonyms: accelerando stringendo
Usage: The final bars are marked ritardando, bringing the piece to a gentle close.