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

  • flageolet [French] A simple recorder with four finger holes, popular in the 17th century in England.
  • maestro [Italian] A title of respect given to a master musician.
  • con grazia [Italian] “With grace”.
  • opus [Latin] A number, often assigned by a publisher, used to classify a particular work of a composer.
  • tritone A dissonant interval consisting of three whole steps.
  • chord A set of three or more (according to certain definitions, even two) different notes that sound simultaneously.
  • mixolydian The Gregorian mode based upon the fifth tone of the scale. This mode, based on G, includes all the tones of the C major scale.
  • scherzando [Italian] Literally, “joking”. A directive to perform in a lively, playful, animated manner.
  • sacred music Religious or spiritual music, for church or devotional use.
  • stretto [Italian] In a fugue, that situation in which the subject and answer overlap one another, or when two subjects enter in close succession.
  • mesto [Italian] Sad.
  • un peu [French] A little.
  • march A military piece characterized by strongly accented duple meter and clear sectional structures.
  • program symphony A multi-movement composition with extra-musical content that directs the attention of the listener to a literary or pictorial association.
  • enharmonic Two notes, intervals, or scales having different names but equal pitch.