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

  • calcando [Italian] Stressing, emphasizing.
  • claque [French] A group of people employed to stimulate applause and other expressions on the part of the audience.
  • reel Moderately quick dance in duple meter danced throughout the British Isles; the most popular Irish traditional dance type.
  • jig A vigorous dance originating in the British Isles in the 15th century or earlier, usually in compound meter.
  • part writing The component of counterpoint that recognizes each voice as an individual, horizontal melody rather than as a part of the resultant, vertical chords.
  • hocket A Medieval practice of composition in which two voices would move in such a manner that one would be still while the other moved and vice-versa.
  • klein [German] Literally, “little”. In reference to intervals, “minor“.
  • duration The length of time that a note is sounded or a rest (silence) is observed.
  • compound interval An interval greater than an octave.
  • mazurka A lively Polish dance in 3/4 or 3/8 time with the accent usually on the second or third beat of the measure.
  • program symphony A multi-movement composition with extra-musical content that directs the attention of the listener to a literary or pictorial association.
  • fortissimo-piano [Italian] A dynamic marking (ffp) indicating that the marked note should be attacked very loudly, instantly diminishing to a much softer volume.
  • tronco [Italian] A directive to perform a certain passage short or “cut off”.
  • semitone A minor second; the smallest interval in the system of Western music.
  • impromptu [French] A single-movement piano composition of the Romantic era, usually short, with a spontaneous character.