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

Hint: Don't worry about accents over letters, just skip them.

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…

You may browse the glossary alphabetically, or directly search for a term by using the search box above.

If you are looking for a symbol, check out our Guide to Musical Symbols.

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

  • whole note The note with the longest duration in currently used Western music notation.
  • art song A vocal music composition, usually written for one singer with piano or orchestral accompaniment.
  • staff Series of five horizontal lines upon and between which the musical notes are written, thus indicating, in connection with a clef, their pitch.
  • transverse flute The regular orchestral flute, as distinct from the recorder.
  • note A notational symbol used to represent the duration of a sound and, when placed on a music staff, to also indicate the pitch of the sound.
  • part In instrumental or choral music, the music for a single instrument or voice.
  • avec [French] “With”.
  • acoustical instrument Any musical instrument not relying on external power for operation.
  • bass flute A flute that plays one octave below the concert flute.
  • binary measure A measure containing two beats.
  • cover Recording that remakes an earlier, often successful, recording.
  • volando [Italian] Flying.
  • dominant The fifth degree of a diatonic scale.
  • Kirkpatrick numbers The numbering system identifying compositions by Domenico Scarlatti.
  • rounded binary Compositional form with two sections, in which the second ends with a return to material from the first; each section is usually repeated.