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

  • allegrezza [Italian] Cheerfulness, happiness, joyfulness.
  • passamezzo [Italian] A 16th and 17th century Italian dance similar to or identical to the pavane.
  • samba [Portuguese] Afro-Brazilian dance, characterized by duple meter, responsorial singing and polyrhythmic accompaniments.
  • elegy A funeral song; a mournful or plaintive composition.
  • camminando [Italian] Literally, “walking”. With easy and gentle progression.
  • un poco [Italian] A little.
  • rigaudon [French] A lively French dance, originally a folk dance but also a court dance and an instrumental form, in duple meter.
  • jive A form of blues popular in the 1940s.
  • mariachi [Spanish] Traditional Mexican ensemble popular throughout the country, consisting of trumpets, violins, guitar and bass guitar.
  • Klang [German] Sound, tune, ringing, sonority.
  • tema [Italian] Theme, subject.
  • agitato [Italian] Agitated, excited, restless.
  • tone A sound of definite pitch and duration, as distinct from noise. Tone is a primary building material of music.
  • moresca [Italian] An exotic Renaissance dance simulating a battle between the Moors and the Christians.
  • comodamente [Italian] Comfortably.