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

  • recitativo secco [Italian] Recitative accompanied only by continuo.
  • incidental music Music written to accompany dramatic works.
  • zu [German] “Too” (excessively).
  • foxtrot Ballroom dance popular in the 19th century.
  • heftig [German] Vehement, boisterous.
  • rhythm The subdivision of time into a defined pattern.
  • sacred music Religious or spiritual music, for church or devotional use.
  • all'ottava [Italian] Literally, “at the octave”. Directive to perform an indicated passage of a composition one octave higher than notated. Typically, this is indicated by an “8va” or “8” over the passage followed by a dotted line over the top of all the notes to be transposed.
  • 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.
  • adirato [Italian] Angry, wrathful.
  • sanft [German] Soft, mild, smooth.
  • soprano [Italian] The highest female voice.
  • Köchel Verzeichnis [German] The numbering system identifying compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
  • quintet A piece for five singers or instrumentalists. Also, a group of such musicians.
  • major Term referring to a sequence of notes that define the tonality of the major scale. This series consists of seven notes: the tonic, followed by the next note a whole step up from the tonic, the third is a whole step from the second, the fourth is a half step from the third, the fifth is a whole step from the fourth, the sixth is a whole step from the fifth, the seventh is another whole step, followed by the tonic, a half step above the seventh.