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

  • accablement [French] Despondency, oppression.
  • cover Recording that remakes an earlier, often successful, recording.
  • tritone A dissonant interval consisting of three whole steps.
  • ode A composition written in commemoration and celebration of a particular event, object, or person. Especially popular in England.
  • grand opera A style of opera that was developed in France in the 19th century that involved no spoken dialogue. It contained huge choruses, serious plots, elaborate dance episodes, ornate costumes and spectacular scenery.
  • gravità [Italian] Gravity, utmost seriousness or solemnity.
  • giocoso [Italian] Jolly, merry, playful.
  • Werke ohne Opuszahl [German] “Works without opus number”. A catalogue prepared in 1955 by Harry Halm and Georg Kinsky, listing all of the compositions of Ludwig van Beethoven that were not originally published with an opus number, or survived only as fragments. The abbreviation is also used sometime to refer to works without opus by other composers.
  • einfach [German] Simple.
  • duple meter A rhythmic pattern with the the number of beats per measure being divisible by two.
  • outer voices The highest and the lowest voices in a polyphonic composition.
  • phrasing The clear rendering in musical performance of the phrases of a melody.
  • farce A comedy which aims to entertain the audience by means of extravagant and improbable situations.
  • wind instrument Any instrument that produces sound by means of a column of air.
  • art song A vocal music composition, usually written for one singer with piano or orchestral accompaniment.