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

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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Some random terms

  • 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.
  • alborada [Spanish] Literally, “dawn”. Lively instrumental composition to be played at daybreak, usually in 6/8 time.
  • harmonic minor scale A minor scale where the seventh tone is raised by a semitone, both ascending and descending.
  • ictus [Latin] The instant when a beat occurs.
  • Nachahmung [German] Imitation.
  • nicht [German] “Not“.
  • foot joint The last section of a flute, played farthest towards the right.
  • klein [German] Literally, “little”. In reference to intervals, “minor“.
  • quodlibet [Latin] A humorous composition that contains snatches of popular melodies and texts presented concurrently or consecutively.
  • flessibile [Italian] Flexible.
  • Kantorei [German] The musicians of a Protestant German court.
  • decibel A logarithmic unit for measuring the intensity of sound, corresponding to the listener's perception of loudness.
  • mariachi [Spanish] Traditional Mexican ensemble popular throughout the country, consisting of trumpets, violins, guitar and bass guitar.
  • all'ottava [Italian] Literally, “at the octave”. Directive to perform an indicated passage of a composition one octave higher than notated. Typically, this is indicated by an “8va” or “8” over the passage followed by a dotted line over the top of all the notes to be transposed.
  • gizmo key On a flute, an optional key on the B foot joint which can enhance the responsiveness of C7 (the highest C playable on a flute).