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

Hint: Don't worry about accents over letters, just skip them.

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

  • con grazia [Italian] “With grace”.
  • concert A public musical performance.
  • cent A logarithmic unit used in measuring the difference between two pitches in an equal-tempered scale. One cent is one one-hundredth of an equal-tempered semitone.
  • fado [Portuguese] A type of street song and dance of Portugal, usually accompanied by a guitar.
  • sordamente [Italian] Softly, gently, or in a muffled or damped style.
  • cue-notes In a separate part, notes belonging to another part with the purpose of hinting when to start playing. Usually printed in a smaller type.
  • presto [Italian] Fast tempo marking, usually around 168–192 BPM.
  • oblique motion In part-writing, term used when one voice (or more) remains on the same pitch while the other ascends or descends.
  • farce A comedy which aims to entertain the audience by means of extravagant and improbable situations.
  • art song A vocal music composition, usually written for one singer with piano or orchestral accompaniment.
  • nach [German] “After”.
  • finale [Italian] The last movement in a composition of several movements.
  • rhythm section In a popular music band or ensemble, the performers who establish the rhythmic pulse of a song or musical piece, and who lay down the chordal structure.
  • autograph A manuscript in the composer's own hand.
  • dal niente [Italian] Literally, “from nothing”. Out of silence.