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

  • galop [French] A lively ballroom dance, generally in 2/4 time.
  • galante [Italian] Gallant, courtly, elegant.
  • dominant The fifth degree of a diatonic scale.
  • 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.
  • voce piena [Italian] “Full voice”.
  • cori spezzati [Italian] Literally, “broken choirs”. A style of performance with groups of singers placed in different locations of a building.
  • ricercare [Italian] Literally, “search”. Term used in the Renaissance originally meaning a keyboard or lute composition of an introductory nature, similar to a prelude, but later meaning a free composition more resembling a fantasia or a fugue. Both forms of the ricercare were characterized by complexity and an esoteric nature.
  • additive meter A pattern of beats that subdivide into smaller, irregular groups. It is common in Eastern European musics, and contemporary compositions attempting to emulate such a sound. For example, a time signature like 9/8, which is normally subdivided as 3+3+3, may be subdivided by the composer as 2+3+2+2 for musical effect.
  • natural minor scale A scale similar to the major scale, but with the third, sixth and seventh degrees lowered by a semitone.
  • sixty-fourth note A note having the time duration of one sixty-fourth of a whole note.
  • cantata [Italian] A baroque genre for voice(s) and instruments based on a poem, including recitatives, arias, and sometimes choruses.
  • acoustical instrument Any musical instrument not relying on external power for operation.
  • flageolet [French] A simple recorder with four finger holes, popular in the 17th century in England.
  • gaudioso [Italian] Joyous, joyful.
  • Renaissance The music of the period circa 1400–1600, directly following the Middle Ages and preceding the baroque era. Its style is characterized by charming melodies, imitative harmonies and lively ornamentation.