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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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We are currently providing explanations for 2404 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

  • Tafelmusik [German] Literally, “table music”. Music that is performed at feasts and banquets.
  • dur [French] Literally, “hard”. With a harsh or ungraceful tone.
  • paraphrase In the Renaissance, a melody borrowed from another source (usually chant) and then elaborated freely. In the 19th century, a virtuoso composition using popular melodies, usually from operas, in an elaborated manner.
  • white noise Sounds containing every audible frequency at approximately the same intensity.
  • Trommelbass [German] Literally, “drum-bass”. A bass line that contains steady, constant, repeated notes.
  • expression The blend of feeling and intellect brought to a performance by the performer.
  • bas [French] Low in pitch.
  • blues African-American music genre, characterized by simple repetitive structures and by the use of the blues chord progressions and the blue notes.
  • sonata [Italian] An instrumental genre in several movements for a soloist or an ensemble. The original usage for the term "sonata" implied a composition that was to be played rather than sung. Later, the term "sonata" came to be understood as a four movement piece: slow, fast, slow, fast, as was used in the church sonata (sonata da chiesa), or allemande, courante, sarabande, and gigue, as was used in the chamber sonata (sonata da camera). As the sonata developed, it became longer and adopted the sonata-allegro form for the first movement, which was generally fast. The following movement was generally somewhat slower, and the number of movements varied, but was generally about three.
  • crescendo [Italian] A directive to smoothly increase the volume.
  • dolcissimo [Italian] Very sweet, very soft.
  • flageolet [French] A simple recorder with four finger holes, popular in the 17th century in England.
  • capriccio [Italian] A piece of music, usually fairly free in form and of a lively character. The typical capriccio is fast, intense, and often virtuosic in nature.
  • canto [Italian] Literally, “singing”. The highest vocal part in choral music.
  • courante [French] A family of triple meter dances from the late Renaissance and the Baroque era.