Multilingual Music Glossary

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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

  • arabesque [French] An ornament or an embellished work. The term is taken from the Arabic art and architecture which is very ornate.
  • alla breve [Italian] A time marking indicating a quick duple meter, with the half note rather than the quarter note getting the beat (2/2 rather than 4/4).
  • choral prelude Short baroque organ composition in which a traditional melody is embellished.
  • modérément [French] “Moderately”.
  • Rococo [French] A term applied to French compositions of the 18th century, implying light, airy, graceful, and ornamented style, in response to the rigid, severe lines of the previous era.
  • grand staff A combination of two staves with a brace, usually used for piano music.
  • symphonie concertante [French] A musical genre of the late 18th and early 19th centuries that resembles a concerto for two to four solo instruments. It is a composition in two or three movements of a lighthearted character, usually in a major key. The genre features a few solo instruments and orchestra.
  • tailgate A slang term for a trombone Glissando in Dixieland jazz.
  • audition The term used for the try-outs that a musician must go through before his or her acceptance into an ensemble.
  • part song A vocal composition for two or more voices, usually unaccompanied.
  • mariachi [Spanish] Traditional Mexican ensemble popular throughout the country, consisting of trumpets, violins, guitar and bass guitar.
  • transposing instrument Those instruments which are notated in one key on paper, yet sound another key when they are performed.
  • lieblich [German] Charming, lovely.
  • alto flute A flute pitched in the key of G, sounding a 4th lower than the concert flute.
  • aeolian A mode used in Gregorian chant based upon the sixth tone of the major scale. In the key of C, the aeolian mode would be based on A, and would include A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A.