Multilingual Music Glossary

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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

  • swing A style of jazz playing whose flexible, improvised rhythms resist notation.
  • mormorando [Italian] Murmuring.
  • attacca [Italian] A musical directive for the performer to begin the next section of a composition immediately and without pause.
  • pop Term born as an abbreviation of popular music, that since the 1950s has been used in the sense of a musical genre, originally characterized as a lighter alternative to rock and roll.
  • incidental music Music written to accompany dramatic works.
  • anthem A choral setting of an English religious text similar to a motet, usually used in church with or without organ accompaniment.
  • double [French] During the Baroque period, a repetition or variation of an air or a dance that adds extra notes and/or ornaments.
  • serenade [French] Night music; a classical instrumental genre that combines elements of chamber music and symphonic music.
  • principal A section leader in a large ensemble (band or orchestra) also called first chair, except for the first violins, where the leader is termed the concertmaster.
  • impetuoso [Italian] Impetuous, vehement.
  • music drama Wagner's term for his operas.
  • bolero [Spanish] A moderately slow Spanish dance in 3/4 time.
  • Burgundian chanson Fifteenth century French composition, usually for three voices, some or all of which may be played by instruments.
  • technique The mechanical aspect of performing a composition.
  • vago [Italian] Vague, indefinite.