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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Some random terms

  • grunge rock Contemporary Seattle-based rock style characterized by harsh guitar chords; hybrid of punk rock and heavy metal.
  • lentement [French] Slowly.
  • verve [French] A high degree of energy, excitement or spirit. Often referred to as the artistic inspiration and special feeling of excitement that is used by artists to realize the expression of ideas in performance or composition.
  • monody Term applied to Italian songs written to be performed by one voice with instrumental accompaniment dating from the first half of the 17th century.
  • accelerando [Italian] Gradually accelerating or getting faster.
  • fantasia [Italian] Free instrumental piece of fairly large dimensions, in an improvisational style.
  • violento [Italian] Violent, vehement.
  • classical The music of the period circa 1750–1825. The Classical period falls between the Baroque and the Romantic periods.
  • tailgate A slang term for a trombone Glissando in Dixieland jazz.
  • symphonic poem A piece of orchestral music in one principal self-contained section called a “movement” in which a program from a poem, a story or novel, a painting, or another source is illustrated or evoked.
  • sempre [Italian] Always.
  • appoggiatura [Italian] Ornamental note, usually taking half of the duration of the main note it precedes.
  • beat A throbbing that is heard when two tones are slightly out of tune.
  • 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.
  • natural minor scale A scale similar to the major scale, but with the third, sixth and seventh degrees lowered by a semitone.