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

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

  • come prima [Italian] “As before”. A directive to return to a previous tempo or to play a particular passage in the manner of a previous passage.
  • march A military piece characterized by strongly accented duple meter and clear sectional structures.
  • one hundred and twenty-eighth note A note having the time duration of one hundred twenty-eighth of the time duration of a whole note.
  • minor Term referring to a sequence of notes that define the tonality of the minor scale. The main difference from the major scale is the third, which is lowered by a semitone. The sixth and seventh degrees are usually lowered, too, generating the natural minor scale.
  • white noise Sounds containing every audible frequency at approximately the same intensity.
  • lesto [Italian] Quick, swift.
  • Kirkpatrick numbers The numbering system identifying compositions by Domenico Scarlatti.
  • accompaniment Additional but subordinate music used to support a melodic line. Also, the art of playing along with a soloist or ensemble in a supporting manner.
  • parlando [Italian] “Speaking”.
  • falsetto [Italian] Vocal technique whereby men can sing above their normal range, producing a lighter sound.
  • score The complete musical notation of a composition, especially for an ensemble, where the individual parts are lined up vertically.
  • inconsolato [Italian] Disconsolate, mournful.
  • verse anthem Anglican devotional composition for solo voices with a choral refrain.
  • sgarbato [Italian] Rude, unkind, impolite.
  • dramma giocoso [Italian] A kind of comic opera originating around 1750, with sentimental or pathetic plots bordering on tragedy rather than the traditional lighthearted comic plots.