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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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

  • agilità [Italian] A directive to perform with lightness or agility.
  • minor Term referring to a sequence of notes that define the tonality of the minor scale. The main difference from the major scale is the third, which is lowered by a semitone. The sixth and seventh degrees are usually lowered, too, generating the natural minor scale.
  • MIDI Acronym for “Musical Instrument Digital Interface”; technology standard that allows networking of computers with electronic musical instruments.
  • incidental music Music written to accompany dramatic works.
  • woodwind A family of blown wooden musical instruments. Today some of these instruments are actually made from metal. The woodwind instruments commonly used in a symphony orchestra are flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, and bassoon.
  • rondeau [French] A Medieval and early Renaissance musical form, based on a popular contemporary poetic form. The rondeau form calls for a rigid pattern of repetition of verse and refrain, following the evolving rhyme-scheme of the poetic form.
  • dodecaphony Ensuring that all 12 notes of the chromatic scale are sounded as often as one another in a piece of music while preventing the emphasis of any.
  • harmony Tones sounding simultaneously.
  • binary measure A measure containing two beats.
  • quintus [Latin] Term used in the 16th century for the fifth voice in a composition having five or more vocal parts. Sometimes it was a countermelody added on top of the usual four voices.
  • Feldmusik [German] Music performed outdoors on wind instruments.
  • sostenuto [Italian] Sustained.
  • interlude Any piece of music played or sung between the movements of a larger composition.
  • 8vb [Italian] A directive to perform an octave lower than written.
  • texture The interweaving of melodic (horizontal) and harmonic (vertical) elements in the musical fabric. Texture is generally described as monophonic (single line), heterophonic (elaboration on a single line), homophonic (single line with accompaniment), or polyphonic (many voiced).