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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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

  • erregt [German] “Agitated”.
  • segno [Italian] A sign in a composition that indicates where a repetition starts.
  • languendo [Italian] Languishing.
  • 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.
  • encore [French] “Again”.
  • vivacissimo [Italian] A fast tempo, faster than vivace.
  • piccolo [Italian] Literally, “small”. A small flute that sounds an octave above the regular flute, and also an octave above its written music.
  • MIDI Acronym for “Musical Instrument Digital Interface”; technology standard that allows networking of computers with electronic musical instruments.
  • tuning The adjustment of the pitch of an instrument. Also, the set pitches to which an instrument is tuned.
  • brace A symbol that looks like an archer's bow, used to connect two or more different staves that are to be played at the same time by the same instrument (e.g. a piano, a organ or a harp). This should not be confused with the bracket, that provides a visual connection between independent parts of a system.
  • disco Commercial dance music popular in the 1970s, characterized by strong percussion in a quadruple meter.
  • sharp An accidental symbol that raises the pitch of a note by a semitone.
  • cadenza [Italian] An improvised or written-out ornamental passage played or sung by a soloist or soloists, usually in a free rhythmic style, and often allowing for virtuosic display.
  • pastorale [Italian] Pastoral, country-like.
  • presque [French] “Almost”.