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

  • recorder A wind instrument of the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque eras. The recorder is a simple instrument related to the flute; it is sounded by blowing into one end and the pitch is adjusted by covering finger holes.
  • sonata da chiesa [Italian] A baroque instrumental work intended for performance in a church, generally in four movements, arranged slow, fast, slow, fast.
  • middle C First C below the 440 Hz A. It is the note on the ledger line halfway between the bass and treble clef on the grand staff. It is the lowest C that a concert flute can make.
  • ritardando [Italian] Gradually delaying the tempo.
  • blue note In blues or jazz, a note that for expressive purposes is sung or played at a slightly lower pitch than usual.
  • perdendo [Italian] Losing volume.
  • 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.
  • ober [German] Upper, higher.
  • smear A slang term for a glissando performed on a trombone.
  • elegante [Italian] Elegant, graceful.
  • quodlibet [Latin] A humorous composition that contains snatches of popular melodies and texts presented concurrently or consecutively.
  • rigore [Italian] Rigour.
  • common chord A chord consisting of the root, third, and fifth.
  • A440 The standard tuning of the A above middle C at 440 Hz.
  • genre Term used to identify a general category of music that shares similar performance forces, formal structures and/or style.