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

  • chart Colloquial or jazz term for a score or arrangement.
  • tourney A composition created for a tournament, popular in the 17th century especially in Italy and France. Tourneys were often used in weddings and other festive occasions.
  • 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.
  • rhythm and blues An American music style popular between the 1940s and 1960s. Generally played by a lead vocalist or instrumentalist, a rhythm section, and an ensemble of voices, wind instruments, or guitar. Most R&B is vocal, in quadruple time, and in a major key, but characterized by blue notes.
  • bridge A passage connecting two sections of a composition.
  • madrigal Renaissance secular work originating in Italy for voices, with or without instruments, set to a short, lyric love poem.
  • march A military piece characterized by strongly accented duple meter and clear sectional structures.
  • sixth An interval of six diatonic degrees, counting the first and last degree.
  • jig A vigorous dance originating in the British Isles in the 15th century or earlier, usually in compound meter.
  • placido [Italian] Calm, placid.
  • trio sonata [Italian] A baroque sonata for two treble instruments and continuo, generally requiring four performers.
  • grand staff A combination of two staves with a brace, usually used for piano music.
  • con brio [Italian] With vivacity or spirit.
  • rinforzando [Italian] Literally, “reinforcing”. Dynamic marking indicating that several notes, or a short phrase, are to be emphasized.
  • sono [Italian] Sound.