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…

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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

  • burlesco [Italian] Jocular, in a playful style.
  • heftig [German] Vehement, boisterous.
  • performer The musician that brings a composition to reality.
  • fiddle A name for the violin, especially when used to perform folk music.
  • mordent An ornament indicating that a note is to be played in a single rapid alternation with the note above or below.
  • no chord A directive placed over a note (or a series of notes) signifying that the note(s) should be performed without accompaniment. Typically found in popular music notation.
  • sextuplet A group of six notes played in the time usually taken to play four.
  • simple meter A meter in which the main beats are subdivided into twos, such as 2/4 or 3/4.
  • divertimento [Italian] Instrumental composition intended for entertainment, usually in a number of movements. The term is used particularly in the second half of the 18th century.
  • exposition The first statement of a theme.
  • riff In pop and jazz compositions, a short ostinato, two to four bars long. A prominent feature of jazz music.
  • hautbois [French] Oboe.
  • triple meter A metrical pattern having three beats to a measure.
  • chromatic scale A scale consisting of all 12 semitones.
  • 8va [Italian] A directive to perform an octave higher than written.