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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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

  • belebend [German] Lively.
  • presque [French] “Almost”.
  • zarzuela [Spanish] A Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance.
  • passamezzo [Italian] A 16th and 17th century Italian dance similar to or identical to the pavane.
  • natural A symbol placed by a note signifying that the note should be played unaltered, as opposed to the sharp or flat of the note.
  • art song A vocal music composition, usually written for one singer with piano or orchestral accompaniment.
  • suives [French] Literally, “follow”. A directive to an accompanist to follow the musical interpretation of the soloist.
  • adagio [Italian] A slow tempo marking, usually around 66–76 BPM.
  • etwas [German] “Somewhat”.
  • incalzando [Italian] In a pressing or chasing manner.
  • Wiederholung [German] Repetition.
  • espressivo [Italian] “Expressive”.
  • difference tone A lower tone that is heard when two higher notes are played in such a way that the frequency of the difference tone is the difference of the frequencies of the other two notes.
  • irato [Italian] Irate, angry.
  • orchestra An instrumental ensemble, usually fairly large, with string, brass, woodwind sections, and possibly a percussion section as well.