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

  • dramatic soprano A soprano voice type with a heavier tone color and more power throughout her range.
  • woodwind quintet Standard chamber ensemble consisting of one each of the following: flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and French horn (not a woodwind instrument).
  • réjouissance [French] A jubilant composition used to conclude some Baroque orchestral suites.
  • tritone A dissonant interval consisting of three whole steps.
  • glee An English part song for three or more voices originating in the 17th century.
  • tenerezza [Italian] Tenderness.
  • Kantor [German] Music director of a Lutheran church, and usually the director of music at a school or institution attached to the church as well.
  • hautbois [French] Oboe.
  • new wave Subgenre of rock popular since the late 1970s, highly influenced by simple 1950s-style rock and roll; developed as a rejection of the complexities of art rock and heavy metal.
  • accompagnato [Italian] Accompanied.
  • secco [Italian] Literally, “dry”. A directive to perform in an unornamented, cold manner. It usually implies that the notes should be of short duration.
  • fermata An element of musical notation indicating that a note should be sustained for longer than its note value would indicate.
  • tierce de Picardie [French] A practice from the baroque era of ending a composition with a major chord, when the rest of the composition is in a minor key, thus giving the composition a sense of finality.
  • simile [Italian] “Similar”. Often used to designate the continuation of the use of an articulation without repeating the articulation symbol.
  • cantabile [Italian] Songful, in a singing style.