Multilingual Music Glossary
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…
You may browse the glossary alphabetically, or directly search for a term by using the search box above.
If you are looking for a symbol, check out our Guide to Musical Symbols.
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
- air A short song, melody or tune, for voice or instrument.
- thirty-second note A note having the time duration of one thirty-second of a whole note.
- tempo giusto
![[Italian]](https://www.flutetunes.com/img/languages/it.png "Italian")
A directive to perform in exact, strict time. - lebhaft
![[German]](https://www.flutetunes.com/img/languages/de.png "German")
Lively. - codetta Literally, “little tail”. A passage similar to a coda, but on a smaller scale, concluding a section of a work instead of the work as a whole.
- rabbia Rage, fury, anger.
- whole tone An interval of two semitones, a major second.
- envoi
![[French]](https://www.flutetunes.com/img/languages/fr.png "French")
A short final stanza of a ballade which serves as a summary or dedication. - comic opera A sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending.
- Nachahmung Imitation.
- scherzando Literally, “joking”. A directive to perform in a lively, playful, animated manner.
- polyphony Music written in a combination of several simultaneous voices (parts) of a more or less pronounced individuality.
- tertian harmony Term applied to harmony which is based upon the interval of the third.
- basse dance A graceful, stately court dance of the early Renaissance.
- monotone A single sustained, unvarying tone, or a succession of notes of the same tone. Often used in the recitation of liturgical texts.