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

  • funk American musical style that originated in the 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, soul jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music.
  • giusto [Italian] A directive to perform in an equal, steady, exact tempo.
  • beruhigend [German] Relaxing, melodious.
  • martellato [Italian] Literally, “hammered”. Strongly marked.
  • afflitto [Italian] Sad, melancholy.
  • upbeat The last beat of any measure, usually a weak beat.
  • connecting note A note held in common by two chords.
  • rastrum [Latin] A pen that has five points (nibs), for use in notating staff lines.
  • lamentoso [Italian] Like a lament, plaintive.
  • interlude Any piece of music played or sung between the movements of a larger composition.
  • new age Style of popular music of the 1980s and 1990s, characterized by soothing timbres and repetitive forms that are subjected to shifting variation techniques.
  • pas de deux [French] An established item in ballet consisting of a dance performed by two dancers.
  • fandango [Spanish] A lively folk and flamenco couple-dance, usually in triple meter, traditionally accompanied by guitars and castanets or hand-clapping.
  • canción [Spanish] A popular genre of Latin American music, particularly in Cuba, where many of the compositions originate.
  • tosto [Italian] Swiftly, rapidly.