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

  • immer [German] Ever, always.
  • raddolcendo [Italian] Growing sweeter and calmer.
  • allegrezza [Italian] Cheerfulness, happiness, joyfulness.
  • doppel [German] “Double”.
  • measure The smallest metrical divisions of a composition, containing a fixed number of beats, the first of which bears an accent.
  • burlesque [French] A humorous composition, usually involving parody or grotesque exaggeration.
  • nonet A composition for nine instruments.
  • sixth An interval of six diatonic degrees, counting the first and last degree.
  • con fuoco [Italian] Literally, “with fire”. A directive to play with vehement energy or fervid emotion.
  • romance [French] Originally a ballad; in the Romantic era, a lyric instrumental work.
  • paraphrase In the Renaissance, a melody borrowed from another source (usually chant) and then elaborated freely. In the 19th century, a virtuoso composition using popular melodies, usually from operas, in an elaborated manner.
  • classical The music of the period circa 1750–1825. The Classical period falls between the Baroque and the Romantic periods.
  • fine [Italian] Literally, “end”. An indication of where a composition ends when there is a repeat.
  • salsa [Spanish] A contemporary Latin American dance music principally of Afro-Cuban tradition.
  • neoromantic A compositional style of the 20th century embodying the techniques and characteristics of the romantic period.