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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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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Some random terms

  • slur A curved line drawn over or under a series of notes, indicating that those notes should be played legato.
  • goliard song Medieval Latin-texted secular song, often with corrupt or lewd lyrics; associated with wandering scholars.
  • double whole note A note twice as long as a whole note. Mainly used in pre-1650 music.
  • break In the flute or other wind instrument, the place between the lower register of the instrument and the higher. For example, the break on the flute is between C-sharp and D.
  • chest voice The lowest register of the voice.
  • serein [French] Serene, calm.
  • mosso [Italian] Moved, agitated.
  • voice Either human voice or a melodic layer or part of a polyphonic composition.
  • da capo aria [Italian] A lyric song in A-B-A form, commonly found in operas, cantatas and oratorios.
  • heterophony Texture in which two or more voices (or parts) elaborate the same melody simultaneously, often the result of improvisation.
  • reprise [French] Repetition.
  • staccatissimo [Italian] A style of playing notes in a detached, separated, distinct manner that shortens the notated duration of the note in a more exaggerated way than normal staccato.
  • paraphrase In the Renaissance, a melody borrowed from another source (usually chant) and then elaborated freely. In the 19th century, a virtuoso composition using popular melodies, usually from operas, in an elaborated manner.
  • agitato [Italian] Agitated, excited, restless.
  • major Term referring to a sequence of notes that define the tonality of the major scale. This series consists of seven notes: the tonic, followed by the next note a whole step up from the tonic, the third is a whole step from the second, the fourth is a half step from the third, the fifth is a whole step from the fourth, the sixth is a whole step from the fifth, the seventh is another whole step, followed by the tonic, a half step above the seventh.