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

  • interval Difference in pitch between two notes.
  • geschwind [German] Swift, swiftly.
  • oratorio [Italian] Large-scale dramatic genre originating in the Baroque, based on a text of religious or serious character, performed by solo voices, chorus and orchestra; similar to opera but without scenery, costumes or action.
  • part writing The component of counterpoint that recognizes each voice as an individual, horizontal melody rather than as a part of the resultant, vertical chords.
  • double whole note A note twice as long as a whole note. Mainly used in pre-1650 music.
  • foot joint The last section of a flute, played farthest towards the right.
  • martial music Music with a military feeling.
  • grand staff A combination of two staves with a brace, usually used for piano music.
  • da capo [Italian] Literally, “from the beginning”. A directive to go back to the beginning of the composition.
  • console [French] Keyboard, stops and foot pedals of an organ.
  • acoustics The science that deals with the study of sound. Also, the art of optimizing sound in a room or other enclosed space, considering reverberation and other acoustical qualities.
  • arpeggio [Italian] Broken chord in which the individual tones are sounded one after another instead of simultaneously.
  • thirty-second note A note having the time duration of one thirty-second of a whole note.
  • jive A form of blues popular in the 1940s.
  • trio [Italian] A composition for three performers.