Multilingual Music Glossary

# A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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Found a word you don't know? No problem. Look it up in the Music Glossary!

We are currently providing explanations for 2484 terms from 12 languages, including English, Italian, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Finnish, Latin…

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Please note: a music glossary is just like a dictionary. It contains explanations to musical terms. If you are looking for a piece, please go here instead: search tunes.

Some random terms

  • lullaby A cradle song. A song sung to a child to soothe him to sleep or a gentle, quiet song.
  • traurig [German] Sad.
  • stromentato [Italian] Accompanied.
  • moto [Italian] Motion, movement.
  • incidental music Music written to accompany dramatic works.
  • refrain [French] A verse which repeats throughout a song or poem at given intervals.
  • allargando [Italian] Growing broader, slowing down.
  • gentile [Italian] Gentle, kind.
  • triste [Italian] Sad.
  • romantic The era of music following the classical period, going from about 1815 to 1910.
  • Lombard rhythm A rhythm associated primarily with baroque music, generally consisting of a stressed sixteenth note followed by a dotted eighth note.
  • well-tempered A term applied to an instrument that is voiced and tuned satisfactorily, with the pitches, tone, and timbre having the desired quality of sound.
  • eilen [German] To hasten, to accelerate.
  • lointain [French] “Distant”, “faraway”.
  • sight-singing The practice of singing a composition at sight, without previous preparation.