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

  • cantor [Latin] Solo singer or singing leader in Jewish and Christian liturgical music.
  • tuning The adjustment of the pitch of an instrument. Also, the set pitches to which an instrument is tuned.
  • fluttertonguing Wind instrument technique in which the tongue is fluttered or trilled against the roof of the mouth.
  • corps [French] Literally, “body”. May indicate the body of an instrument or a company of performers.
  • diminuendo [Italian] A directive to smoothly decrease the volume.
  • tempestoso [Italian] Stormy.
  • fortississimo [Italian] Extremely loud, louder than fortissimo.
  • fundamental The base note upon which a chord is built.
  • microtone Musical interval smaller than a semitone, prevalent in some non-Western musics and in some twentieth century art music.
  • bagatelle [French] A short piece of music, typically for the piano, and usually of a light, mellow character. The term literally means a “trifle”, as a reference to the innocent character of the piece.
  • avec [French] “With”.
  • chorale Baroque congregational hymn of the German Lutheran church, usually written for four voice harmony.
  • yodel A style of singing or calling that involves switching the registers of the voice rapidly from head voice to chest voice (or falsetto and natural voice). Although this type of singing is typically associated with the high warbling of the Swiss and Tyrolean mountaineers, forms of yodeling can be found in several cultures, including African, Persian, and cowboy singers in the United States.
  • minor Term referring to a sequence of notes that define the tonality of the minor scale. The main difference from the major scale is the third, which is lowered by a semitone. The sixth and seventh degrees are usually lowered, too, generating the natural minor scale.
  • pas trop [French] “Not too much”.