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

  • pentatonic scale A scale of five tones. Commonly, these tones correspond to the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th of a major scale.
  • head joint The top section of a flute, with the tone hole where the player initiates the sound by blowing air across the opening.
  • mezzo [Italian] Half, medium.
  • Anlaufen [German] To open, to increase in volume.
  • concert pitch The tuning pitch of an ensemble, typically A440.
  • mutig [German] Courageous, spirited.
  • Minnelied [German] A love song composed in the Minnesang tradition.
  • tourney A composition created for a tournament, popular in the 17th century especially in Italy and France. Tourneys were often used in weddings and other festive occasions.
  • ornament Musical flourishes that are not necessary to carry the overall line of the melody (or harmony), but serve instead to decorate or “ornament” that line. Many ornaments are performed as fast notes around a central note.
  • serenade [French] Night music; a classical instrumental genre that combines elements of chamber music and symphonic music.
  • big band A type of musical ensemble associated with playing jazz music and which became popular during the Swing Era from the early 1930s until the late 1940s. A big band typically consists of approximately 12 to 25 musicians and contains saxophones, trumpets, trombones and a rhythm section.
  • affannoso [Italian] With anxious expression.
  • motive The briefest intelligible and self-contained fragment of a musical theme or subject.
  • MIDI Acronym for “Musical Instrument Digital Interface”; technology standard that allows networking of computers with electronic musical instruments.
  • transposition Shifting a melody up or down in pitch, while keeping the same relative pitches.