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

  • brio [Italian] Vivacity, spirit, liveliness.
  • unison Interval between two notes of the same pitch; the simultaneous playing of the same note.
  • cadenza [Italian] An improvised or written-out ornamental passage played or sung by a soloist or soloists, usually in a free rhythmic style, and often allowing for virtuosic display.
  • Schleppend [German] Dragging.
  • doucement [French] Softly.
  • squillante [Italian] Ringing.
  • seventh An interval of seven diatonic degrees, counting the first and last degree.
  • obbligato [Italian] Literally, “obligatory”. Important part of a music that that should not be omitted.
  • concertmaster The term used to address the principal first violinist of an orchestra.
  • septet A piece for seven singers or instrumentalists. Also, a group of such musicians.
  • ossia [Italian] An alternative version of a music, usually only a few measures long and marked as an added staff.
  • divertissment [French] A light, entertaining dance and music combination related to the divertimento.
  • rinforzare [Italian] To reinforce.
  • diminution A Renaissance and Baroque ornamentation which consists of the restatement of a melody in which the note values are shortened, usually by half.
  • homophony Music in which one voice leads melodically followed by the other voices more or less in the same rhythm. In contrast with polyphony.