I have just started playing again and have my old classical books and some new ones, but I don't remember much about the dynamic terms except for p for soft and f for loud. I have all these notations from my piano teacher like 'legato', but don't what I'm being directed to do. Is there a reference somewhere for these, in a book or on the internet?

here is a website with terms and meanings http://www.pianoinstructors.com/musicterms/term.html

if you click on the a word then all the a words come up with a meaning.

oh and hi, i have never seen you around these parts so i thought i would say hi:)

There are tons... here's one: free online music dictionary

But if you google "music notation dictionary" or some such phrase you'll find dozens.

Aloewishes: Re-starting to play after many, many years, I found that although I can read the notes, I've lost the vocabulary and knowledge about the markings. I just look things up as I go. Good luck and welcome to Pianoworld!

Thanks so much for the help and the welcome. It's so strange to start up again and have your hands actually hitting the right notes but as "Agilita" said, not know what any of the vocabulary means. It's like your hands remember while the mind has forgotten.

I bought The Harvard Dictionary of Music at the advice of another PW member. If you search the archives you should be able to find the thread. At first I thought I waisted $25.00 but that is not the case, at least for me. While there is a lot in this book I will never use there is also a lot in this book which I do.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0674011...glance&n=283155

I found a great piano resource for beginners and restarters. It explains the terms, notes, dynamics, italian meanings etc.

cnx.org/content/m11649/latest/

a music dictionary will be good, otherwise, check it online such as on this site:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legato

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/n.escott/performance%20directions.htm#C

This one is good too.

Peter