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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Some random terms

  • divisi [Italian] Literally, “divided”. A directive in ensemble music that instructs one section to divide into two or more separate sections, each playing a separate part. Often these separate parts are written on the same staff.
  • motet Polyphonic vocal genre, secular in the Middle Ages but sacred or devotional thereafter.
  • goliard song Medieval Latin-texted secular song, often with corrupt or lewd lyrics; associated with wandering scholars.
  • mezzo-soprano [Italian] The female voice between soprano and contralto.
  • fertig [German] Dexterous, nimble, quick.
  • ballade [French] A one-movement musical piece with lyrical and dramatic narrative qualities, usually having a text dealing with courtly love.
  • bar Each of the lines drawn perpendicularly across the staff to divide it into measures. In common usage the term may also mean measure.
  • symphonic poem A piece of orchestral music in one principal self-contained section called a “movement” in which a program from a poem, a story or novel, a painting, or another source is illustrated or evoked.
  • rounded binary Compositional form with two sections, in which the second ends with a return to material from the first; each section is usually repeated.
  • modérément [French] “Moderately”.
  • sonatina [Italian] A form popular in the late classical era that consisted of a short or “light” sonata; often the sonatina contained an exposition and recapitulation without the development section. The form has been revived in the 20th century by various composers.
  • bluegrass A form of American country music, inspired by the music of immigrants from the United Kingdom and Ireland as well as jazz and blues. In bluegrass, as in jazz, each instrument takes its turn playing the melody and improvising around it, while the others perform accompaniment.
  • al segno [Italian] A directive to return to the sign.
  • affettuoso [Italian] Tender, loving, affectionate.
  • shanty A song sung by sailors while working on a ship. A shanty has a chorus, which is sung by all, and verses that are usually sung by one voice.