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

  • sehr [German] “Very”, “much”.
  • minstrel A court musician or entertainer of the 12th through 17th centuries who performed professionally.
  • trill Ornament consisting of the rapid alternation between one tone and the next above it.
  • couplet [French] A term used in the 1600s and 1700s for the intermediate sections of a rondeau.
  • quadruple meter Metrical pattern with four beats to a measure.
  • encore [French] “Again”.
  • sottovoce [Italian] Almost whispering.
  • part In instrumental or choral music, the music for a single instrument or voice.
  • parlando [Italian] “Speaking”.
  • articulation The manner in which adjacent notes of a melody are connected or separated. Woodwind and brass instruments generally articulate by tonguing, the use of the tongue to break the airflow into the instrument.
  • double flat An accidental sign consisting of two flat symbols, that lowers a note by two semitones.
  • instrumentation The particular combination of musical instruments employed in a composition.
  • foxtrot Ballroom dance popular in the 19th century.
  • hautbois [French] Oboe.
  • heavy metal Rock style that gained popularity in the 1970s, characterized by simple, repetitive ideas and loud, distorted instrumental solos.