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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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

  • articulation The manner in which adjacent notes of a melody are connected or separated. Woodwind and brass instruments generally articulate by tonguing, the use of the tongue to break the airflow into the instrument.
  • stretto [Italian] A directive to quicken the tempo.
  • Zimmerman numbers The numbering system identifying compositions by Henry Purcell.
  • console [French] Keyboard, stops and foot pedals of an organ.
  • principal A section leader in a large ensemble (band or orchestra) also called first chair, except for the first violins, where the leader is termed the concertmaster.
  • program symphony A multi-movement composition with extra-musical content that directs the attention of the listener to a literary or pictorial association.
  • schwungvoll [German] Rousing, spirited, energetic.
  • einfach [German] Simple.
  • réjouissance [French] A jubilant composition used to conclude some Baroque orchestral suites.
  • ionian In the system of modes, the ionian mode is the one based on C; therefore, it is the modern major scale.
  • ambitus [Latin] A range of pitches for a given voice in a part of music. It may also denote the pitch range that a musical instrument is capable of playing.
  • air A short song, melody or tune, for voice or instrument.
  • sonata da chiesa [Italian] A baroque instrumental work intended for performance in a church, generally in four movements, arranged slow, fast, slow, fast.
  • Italian overture The baroque precursor of the classical symphony, evolved during the 17th and 18th centuries; it is characterized by its three movement form, consisting of a fast, a slow, and a fast movement.
  • codetta [Italian] Literally, “little tail”. A passage similar to a coda, but on a smaller scale, concluding a section of a work instead of the work as a whole.