Ritardando vs Stringendo

Side-by-side comparison of two musical terms.

	Ritardando	Stringendo
Definition	Gradually slowing down	Pressing forward; an instruction to accelerate the tempo with increasing urgency.
Category	tempo	tempo
Pronunciation	ree-tar-DAHN-doh	strin-JEN-doh
Origin	Italian	Italian
BPM	—	—
Synonyms	rallentando slowing down	—
Antonyms	accelerando stringendo	Rallentando Ritardando
Usage	The final bars are marked ritardando, bringing the piece to a gentle close.	The stringendo in the final eight bars drives the coda to a thrilling, breathless 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.

Definition: Pressing forward; an instruction to accelerate the tempo with increasing urgency.
Category: tempo
Pronunciation: strin-JEN-doh
Origin: Italian
Antonyms: Rallentando Ritardando
Usage: The stringendo in the final eight bars drives the coda to a thrilling, breathless conclusion.