Accelerando ( Accel.) - Musical Definition

Accelerando ( Accel.) - gradually faster

The marking is often used in combination with a dotted line to indicate the length of passage over which it should occur. It may also be used in combination with the marking poco or molto: poco accelerando means ‘get a little faster’, whilst molto accelerando means ‘get much faster’. Often an accelerando will lead to a new tempo. For example a piece may begin adagio and an accelerando will lead seamlessly to a new tempo such as allegro. One of the most famous examples of an accelerando occurs in the Sailor’s Hornpipe from Henry Wood’s Fantasia on British Sea Songs, played every year at the Last Night of the Proms: