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…

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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

  • calmo [Italian] Calm.
  • springer An ornament consisting of the main tone followed by the tone above it followed by the tone above that, then returning to the original main tone.
  • sforzando [Italian] Literally, “forcing”. Dynamic marking indicating a strong, sudden accent.
  • tutti [Italian] “All”. A directive to perform with all instruments together.
  • Handel-Werke-Verzeichnis [German] The numbering system identifying compositions by George Frederic Handel.
  • militare [Italian] Military.
  • affabilmente [Italian] Easily, gently and agreeably.
  • fresco [Italian] “Fresh”, vigorous, lively.
  • pantomime Theatrical genre in which an actor silently plays all the parts in a show while accompanied by singing.
  • affannoso [Italian] With anxious expression.
  • crossover Recording or artist that appeals primarily to one audience but becomes popular with another as well.
  • Zungenstoss [German] Tongue thrust.
  • head voice The highest register of the voice, excluding falsetto.
  • disco Commercial dance music popular in the 1970s, characterized by strong percussion in a quadruple meter.
  • ut [Latin] The syllable first associated with the tonic of the key, now replaced by the syllable "Do" but still used in France. In the fixed Do system, this is always C.