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

Hint: Don't worry about accents over letters, just skip them.

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…

You may browse the glossary alphabetically, or directly search for a term by using the search box above.

If you are looking for a symbol, check out our Guide to Musical Symbols.

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

  • savart [French] A unit of measurement for musical intervals, corresponding to about 3.986 cents.
  • radical bass An bass line produced by linking the fundamentals of the chords in a progression.
  • new wave Subgenre of rock popular since the late 1970s, highly influenced by simple 1950s-style rock and roll; developed as a rejection of the complexities of art rock and heavy metal.
  • terzetto [Italian] A three-voice compositional form of the 18th century, usually short, which may or may not be accompanied.
  • non-transposing instrument An instrument which is notated in the same key on paper that it sounds when played.
  • voice Either human voice or a melodic layer or part of a polyphonic composition.
  • moins [French] “Less”.
  • innocentemente Innocently.
  • belebend [German] Lively.
  • lip plate The part of a flute which contacts the player's lower lip, allowing precise positioning and direction of the air stream.
  • teneramente [Italian] Tenderly.
  • motive The briefest intelligible and self-contained fragment of a musical theme or subject.
  • aubade [French] A song or instrumental composition concerning, accompanying, or evoking daybreak.
  • tonguing In the performance of wind instruments, the technique of using the tongue to produce certain sounds and effects, and especially the technique in which notes are attacked and articulated.
  • bolero [Spanish] A moderately slow Spanish dance in 3/4 time.