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

  • blues African-American music genre, characterized by simple repetitive structures and by the use of the blues chord progressions and the blue notes.
  • quadruple meter Metrical pattern with four beats to a measure.
  • lentissimo [Italian] Very slow.
  • section A group of identical or similar instruments in an ensemble.
  • audition The term used for the try-outs that a musician must go through before his or her acceptance into an ensemble.
  • Wiederholung [German] Repetition.
  • species counterpoint A technique of strict counterpoint involving the addition of voices to a melody advancing from simple to more complex harmonies.
  • pastorale [Italian] Pastoral, country-like.
  • fortississimo [Italian] Extremely loud, louder than fortissimo.
  • verse anthem Anglican devotional composition for solo voices with a choral refrain.
  • libretto [Italian] A “little book” that contains the complete text of an opera, oratorio, and so forth.
  • tempo [Italian] Literally, “time”. The speed of a piece of music, usually reckoned by the rate of its beats.
  • accent The stress of one tone over others.
  • dotted note A note that has a dot placed to the right of the notehead, indicating that the duration of the note should be increased by half again its original duration.
  • chanson [French] French polyphonic song of the Middle Ages and Renaissance set to either courtly or popular poetry.