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

  • drone A harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout much or all of a piece, sustained or repeated.
  • klein [German] Literally, “little”. In reference to intervals, “minor“.
  • Longo numbers A numbering system identifying keyboard sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti.
  • partita [Italian] In the 18th and 19th century, a multi-movement composition consisting of dances and non-dance movements or entirely of non-dance movements.
  • unter [German] “Below”, “under”.
  • relish An ornament of the English Renaissance and Baroque eras. A single relish consists of a trill with a turned ending or simply a turn. A double relish is a compound ornament, defined differently by different writers, but usually including a trill or an appoggiatura.
  • transposition Shifting a melody up or down in pitch, while keeping the same relative pitches.
  • Gesamtkunstwerk [German] The integration of all of the arts (music, poetry, dance and other visual elements) into a single medium of dramatic expression. This term was used by Richard Wagner to describe the vision of his later operas in the late Romantic era.
  • ambitus [Latin] A range of pitches for a given voice in a part of music. It may also denote the pitch range that a musical instrument is capable of playing.
  • burlesque [French] A humorous composition, usually involving parody or grotesque exaggeration.
  • allant [French] Going on, lively.
  • affabilità [Italian] Literally, “affability”. A directive to perform with ease and elegance, in a pleasing and agreeable manner.
  • ancora [Italian] “Again”.
  • pochissimo [Italian] “Very little”.
  • gai [French] Gay, merry.