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

  • rigore [Italian] Rigour.
  • bravura [Italian] Literally, “skill”. Great dexterity and skill in execution.
  • ohne [German] “Without”.
  • verismo [Italian] A term meaning “realism”, applied to Romantic works (especially operas) of the late 19th century that have to do with unpleasant realities of life.
  • stabile [Italian] Firm.
  • lieblich [German] Charming, lovely.
  • minstrel A court musician or entertainer of the 12th through 17th centuries who performed professionally.
  • tasto solo [Italian] Literally, “key only”. A directive indicating that a note is to be performed without harmony, especially used in compositions that use continuo.
  • pietoso [Italian] Pitiful, merciful, compassionate.
  • duple meter A rhythmic pattern with the the number of beats per measure being divisible by two.
  • courante [French] A family of triple meter dances from the late Renaissance and the Baroque era.
  • dolente [Italian] Sorrowful.
  • polonaise [French] Stately Polish processional dance in triple meter.
  • ambitus [Latin] A range of pitches for a given voice in a part of music. It may also denote the pitch range that a musical instrument is capable of playing.
  • post-modern A term adopted around the mid-1970s to describe our current eclectic, experimental age.