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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Some random terms

  • punk rock Subgenre of rock popular since the mid 1970s, characterized by loud volume levels, driving rhythms and simple forms typical of earlier rock and roll; often contains shocking lyrics and offensive behavior.
  • transposing instrument Those instruments which are notated in one key on paper, yet sound another key when they are performed.
  • tonic The note upon which a scale or key is based.
  • fundamental The base note upon which a chord is built.
  • bizzarro [Italian] Odd, whimsical, irregular.
  • swing A style of jazz playing whose flexible, improvised rhythms resist notation.
  • canción [Spanish] A popular genre of Latin American music, particularly in Cuba, where many of the compositions originate.
  • martial music Music with a military feeling.
  • glee club Originally, a club designed for the singing of glees, originating in 1787 and dissolved in 1857. In modern usage, a glee club is a club usually, but not necessarily, exclusive to males, organized for the singing of vocal compositions.
  • tristezza [Italian] Sadness.
  • pasticcio [Italian] A composition assembled from passages taken from numerous other sources by various composers.
  • custos [Latin] (Plural: custodes.) A symbol that appears at the end of a staff line with a single voice). It anticipates the first note of the following line and thus helps the player or singer to manage line breaks during performance. Custodes were frequently used until the 16th century.
  • un peu [French] A little.
  • virelai [French] A Medieval and Renaissance form of French poetry and song, written in an ABBA form with a courtly text.
  • relish An ornament of the English Renaissance and Baroque eras. A single relish consists of a trill with a turned ending or simply a turn. A double relish is a compound ornament, defined differently by different writers, but usually including a trill or an appoggiatura.