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

  • larynx The upper part of the trachea in the human throat. It is the mechanism that varies the tone of the voice.
  • impromptu [French] A single-movement piano composition of the Romantic era, usually short, with a spontaneous character.
  • quarter tone Half a semitone.
  • soli [Italian] “Alone” (plural form). A directive to perform with an entire section of an ensemble.
  • Leben [German] Life, vivacity.
  • jarabe [Spanish] Traditional Mexican dance form with multiple sections in contrasting meters and tempos.
  • oral tradition Music that is transmitted by example or imitation and performed from memory.
  • French model A flute with pointed French-style arms and open-hole finger keys, as distinguished from the plateau style with closed holes.
  • sinfonietta [Italian] An orchestral work of smaller proportions than a full symphony.
  • offset G On a flute, a G key which is extended to the side of the other two left-hand finger keys (along with the G♯ key), thus requiring less bending of the wrist, rendering it easier to reach and cover effectively, and less uncomfortable and fatiguing to play.
  • mosso [Italian] Moved, agitated.
  • head joint The top section of a flute, with the tone hole where the player initiates the sound by blowing air across the opening.
  • à la [French] In the manner of.
  • rhythm section In a popular music band or ensemble, the performers who establish the rhythmic pulse of a song or musical piece, and who lay down the chordal structure.
  • cent A logarithmic unit used in measuring the difference between two pitches in an equal-tempered scale. One cent is one one-hundredth of an equal-tempered semitone.