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

  • hymn Song in praise of God; often involves congregational participation.
  • corps [French] Literally, “body”. May indicate the body of an instrument or a company of performers.
  • traurig [German] Sad.
  • giusto [Italian] A directive to perform in an equal, steady, exact tempo.
  • Abendmusik [German] Evening music, usually religious in nature, originating in the 17th century.
  • precisamente [Italian] Precisely, exactly.
  • 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.
  • lentissimo [Italian] Very slow.
  • verve [French] A high degree of energy, excitement or spirit. Often referred to as the artistic inspiration and special feeling of excitement that is used by artists to realize the expression of ideas in performance or composition.
  • tremolo [Italian] A rapid alternation between two notes.
  • audition The term used for the try-outs that a musician must go through before his or her acceptance into an ensemble.
  • burlesque [French] A humorous composition, usually involving parody or grotesque exaggeration.
  • fluttertonguing Wind instrument technique in which the tongue is fluttered or trilled against the roof of the mouth.
  • lesto [Italian] Quick, swift.
  • cori spezzati [Italian] Literally, “broken choirs”. A style of performance with groups of singers placed in different locations of a building.