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

  • pochettino [Italian] A little bit.
  • da capo aria [Italian] A lyric song in A-B-A form, commonly found in operas, cantatas and oratorios.
  • concert A public musical performance.
  • un peu [French] A little.
  • pastorale [Italian] Pastoral, country-like.
  • resonator Term referring to those parts of instruments which resonate or vibrate, thus enhancing the sound of the instrument.
  • style Characteristic manner of presentation of musical elements: melody, rhythm, harmony, dynamics, form, etc.
  • mezzo piano [Italian] Moderately soft. Not quite so soft as piano.
  • mediant The third note of a diatonic scale.
  • volte [French] A Renaissance dance for couples in triple meter.
  • dramatic soprano A soprano voice type with a heavier tone color and more power throughout her range.
  • empfindungsvoll [German] Feelingly.
  • tristezza [Italian] Sadness.
  • decay The time that it takes for a note to die away once the musician has stopped producing the sound.
  • rustico [Italian] Rustic, rural.