Multilingual Music Glossary
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…
You may browse the glossary alphabetically, or directly search for a term by using the search box above.
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
- pienezza
![[Italian]](https://www.flutetunes.com/img/languages/it.png "Italian")
“Fullness”. - prima volta “First time”; may refer to the first ending of a repetition.
- maestoso Majestic.
- quasi “Almost”.
- libretto A “little book” that contains the complete text of an opera, oratorio, and so forth.
- lauda
![[Latin]](https://www.flutetunes.com/img/languages/la.png "Latin")
Laud, hymn of praise. - finale The last movement in a composition of several movements.
- sextuplet A group of six notes played in the time usually taken to play four.
- tardo Slow.
- 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.
- audition The term used for the try-outs that a musician must go through before his or her acceptance into an ensemble.
- madrigal Renaissance secular work originating in Italy for voices, with or without instruments, set to a short, lyric love poem.
- carol A festive song, generally religious but not necessarily connected with church worship, and often with a dance-like or popular character.
- diminuendo A directive to smoothly decrease the volume.
- più “More”.