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

  • doppel [German] “Double”.
  • mosso [Italian] Moved, agitated.
  • con anima [Italian] “With soul”, with feeling.
  • volta [Italian] “Time”, as in “first time” (prima volta) or “second time” (seconda volta).
  • allegrissimo [Italian] A fast tempo marking, faster than allegro.
  • sixteenth note A note having the time duration of one sixteenth of a whole note.
  • invention Mostly in reference to baroque music, a short, contrapuntal composition, usually implying an originality of idea.
  • animato [Italian] Animated or spirited.
  • minstrel A court musician or entertainer of the 12th through 17th centuries who performed professionally.
  • symphony In the early 18th century, any instrumental prelude, interlude, or postlude. In modern usage, the term is applied to a large composition for orchestra, generally in three or four movements. The symphony may also be defined as a sonata for orchestra.
  • comic opera A sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending.
  • arabesque [French] An ornament or an embellished work. The term is taken from the Arabic art and architecture which is very ornate.
  • habanera [Spanish] Moderate duple meter dance of Cuban origin, popular in the nineteenth century. It is based on a characteristic rhythmic figure.
  • bravura [Italian] Literally, “skill”. Great dexterity and skill in execution.
  • outer voices The highest and the lowest voices in a polyphonic composition.