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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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

  • con malinconia [Italian] With melancholy.
  • console [French] Keyboard, stops and foot pedals of an organ.
  • melody Succession of single tones or pitches perceived by the mind as a unity.
  • ska A music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, combining elements of Caribbean music with American jazz and rhythm and blues. It is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the offbeat.
  • fiddle A name for the violin, especially when used to perform folk music.
  • vivacissimamente [Italian] A directive to perform in a very lively or brisk manner.
  • radical bass An bass line produced by linking the fundamentals of the chords in a progression.
  • half note A note that has half the duration of time of a whole note.
  • march A military piece characterized by strongly accented duple meter and clear sectional structures.
  • adagietto [Italian] A slow tempo marking, slightly faster than adagio.
  • canticle A sacred hymn or song.
  • oral tradition Music that is transmitted by example or imitation and performed from memory.
  • tacet [Latin] Literally, “he is silent”. An indication that a performer is to be silent for some time.
  • attack The method of beginning a phrase.
  • l'istesso tempo [Italian] Literally, “the same tempo”. An indication that directs that the beat remains constant when the meter changes.