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

Hint: Don't worry about accents over letters, just skip them.

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…

You may browse the glossary alphabetically, or directly search for a term by using the search box above.

If you are looking for a symbol, check out our Guide to Musical Symbols.

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

  • traurig [German] Sad.
  • wind instrument Any instrument that produces sound by means of a column of air.
  • subito [Italian] At once, immediately.
  • bar Each of the lines drawn perpendicularly across the staff to divide it into measures. In common usage the term may also mean measure.
  • performer The musician that brings a composition to reality.
  • eilig [German] Hurried, hasty, speedy.
  • perdendo [Italian] Losing volume.
  • zu [German] Shown as zu2, zu3, etc., it is a directive to indicate the number of musicians to perform the indicated passage of music.
  • gioioso [Italian] “Joyful”.
  • tonality The organization of a composition around a tonic.
  • reprise [French] Repetition.
  • triplet Three notes of equal length that are to be performed in the duration of two notes of equal length.
  • tutti [Italian] “All”. A directive to perform with all instruments together.
  • gavotte [French] Duple meter baroque dance of a pastoral character.
  • caesura [Latin] Break or interruption in music, with complete cessation of musical time. It is notated by two diagonal lines across the top line of a staff.