Fermata
A held note or rest; pause at the performer's discretion.
Category
notation
Pronunciation
fehr-MAH-tah
Origin
Italian
Length
130 words · 1 min read
About Fermata
A fermata, indicated by a dot beneath a curved line, tells the performer to hold a note or rest beyond its written value. The exact duration is left to the performer's or conductor's judgement, making it one of the few truly flexible elements in notated music.
More notation terms
Clef
View all notationterms →A symbol placed at the beginning of a staff to indicate the pitch of the notes.
ScoreA written document showing all parts of a musical composition aligned vertically on the page
RestA notated period of silence of a specified duration.
TieA curved line joining two adjacent notes of the same pitch, combining their durations into a single sustained sound.
StaffThe set of five horizontal lines and four spaces on which musical notes are written.
Compare with similar terms
v1 · 09/04/2026Browse all terms →