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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Some random terms

  • passacaglia [Italian] Baroque form in moderately slow triple meter, based on a short, repeated base-line melody that serves as the basis for continuous variation in the other voices.
  • vocal range The range of notes that a singing voice can encompass.
  • florid Rich, embellished.
  • a tempo [Italian] A directive to return to the original tempo after a deliberate deviation.
  • swing A style of jazz playing whose flexible, improvised rhythms resist notation.
  • lyric opera Hybrid form combining elements of grand opera and opéra comique and featuring appealing melodies and romantic drama.
  • absolute music Music that is not explicitly “about” anything. In contrast with program music, absolute music has no words and no references to stories or images or any other kind of extra-musical idea.
  • jazz A musical style created mainly by African-Americans in the early twentieth century that blended elements drawn from African musics with the popular and art traditions of the West.
  • lesto [Italian] Quick, swift.
  • varsovienne [French] A French dance in 3/4 time with a moderate tempo.
  • multiphonics The technique of performing two or more tones simultaneously on an instrument that is designed to produce only one tone at a time, like the flute.
  • energico [Italian] With energy, vigorous.
  • windway The pathway or duct in the mouthpiece of a edge-blown aerophone that directs the air stream over the fipple and onto the labium where the air is split and vibrates to produce a sound.
  • 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.
  • poco a poco [Italian] Little by little.