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

  • echo A repetition or mimicking of a certain passage, usually with less force and volume than the original statement.
  • minuet A 17th-century court dance in moderate triple meter, originating in France.
  • seventh An interval of seven diatonic degrees, counting the first and last degree.
  • crescendo [Italian] A directive to smoothly increase the volume.
  • reprise [French] Repetition.
  • pitch Highness or lowness of a tone, depending on the frequency (rate of vibration).
  • dirge A generic term used for a composition designed specifically for a funeral or in commemoration of the dead.
  • dramma giocoso [Italian] A kind of comic opera originating around 1750, with sentimental or pathetic plots bordering on tragedy rather than the traditional lighthearted comic plots.
  • repercussion The frequent repetition of the same sound. Also, the re-entrance of the subject and answer in a fugue following other material.
  • drone A harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout much or all of a piece, sustained or repeated.
  • traditional music Music that is learned by oral transmission and is easily sung or played by most people.
  • fundamental The base note upon which a chord is built.
  • prima volta [Italian] “First time”; may refer to the first ending of a repetition.
  • inquieto [Italian] Restless, uneasy, agitated.
  • lamentevole [Italian] Plaintive, mournful.