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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We are currently providing explanations for 2459 terms from 12 languages, including English, Italian, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Finnish, Latin…

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Some random terms

  • choro [Portuguese] Literally, “cry”, or “lament”. Brazilian popular music instrumental style, born in 19th-century Rio de Janeiro. In spite of the name, the style has often a fast and happy rhythm, characterized by the improvisations of the musician.
  • riff In pop and jazz compositions, a short ostinato, two to four bars long. A prominent feature of jazz music.
  • fauxbourdon [French] A technique of musical harmonization used in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. It consists of the cantus firmus and two other parts a sixth and a perfect fourth below.
  • dolce [Italian] Sweet, soft, with tender emotion.
  • swing A style of jazz playing whose flexible, improvised rhythms resist notation.
  • retrograde Backward statement of a melody.
  • ternary form A three-part musical structure (ABA) based on statement (A), contrast (B) and repetition (A).
  • lentissimo [Italian] Very slow.
  • chromatic Any music or chord that contains notes not belonging to the diatonic scale.
  • moderato [Italian] A moderate tempo, faster than andante but slower than allegretto, usually around 100–120 BPM.
  • reel Moderately quick dance in duple meter danced throughout the British Isles; the most popular Irish traditional dance type.
  • klein [German] Literally, “little”. In reference to intervals, “minor“.
  • program music Music intended to evoke extra-musical ideas, images in the mind of the listener by musically representing a scene, image or mood. By contrast, absolute music stands for itself and is intended to be appreciated without any particular reference to the outside world.
  • blues African-American music genre, characterized by simple repetitive structures and by the use of the blues chord progressions and the blue notes.
  • dodecaphony Ensuring that all 12 notes of the chromatic scale are sounded as often as one another in a piece of music while preventing the emphasis of any.