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

  • smaniato [Italian] Furious, vehement.
  • grand staff A combination of two staves with a brace, usually used for piano music.
  • sextuplet A group of six notes played in the time usually taken to play four.
  • dump A slow, melancholic old English dance, usually in 4/4 time.
  • empfindungsvoll [German] Feelingly.
  • resolution In partwriting, the resolving of a dissonant sound to a consonant sound in the following chord. Also, the conclusive ending to a musical statement.
  • uguale [Italian] Equal, the same.
  • larghissimo [Italian] An extremely slow tempo, slower than largo.
  • litany A prayer or processional of supplication to God, to Mary, or to the saints in which the priest or deacon chants the supplication and the congregation responds with “Ora pro nobis”, “Kyrie eleison”, etc.
  • bas [French] Low in pitch.
  • sequence Restatement of an idea or motive at a different pitch level.
  • Leben [German] Life, vivacity.
  • oral transmission Preservation of music without the aid of written notation.
  • dramatic soprano A soprano voice type with a heavier tone color and more power throughout her range.
  • Schottische [German] A German round dance in duple time.