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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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

  • moto [Italian] Motion, movement.
  • tonality The organization of a composition around a tonic.
  • French model A flute with pointed French-style arms and open-hole finger keys, as distinguished from the plateau style with closed holes.
  • cantio [Latin] A religious, monophonic, Latin song of the later Middle Ages.
  • carol A festive song, generally religious but not necessarily connected with church worship, and often with a dance-like or popular character.
  • stanza [Italian] The division of a poem that consists of a series of lines arranged together. This is usually in the form of a recurring pattern of meter and rhyme.
  • Raabe numbers A numbering system identifying compositions by Franz Liszt.
  • tempestoso [Italian] Stormy.
  • Requiem [Latin] A composition to honor the deceased.
  • phrygian The mode based upon the third note of the major scale. In the key of C major, phrygian mode would start on the key of E, and include all the notes of the C major scale.
  • pas de deux [French] An established item in ballet consisting of a dance performed by two dancers.
  • tempo [Italian] Literally, “time”. The speed of a piece of music, usually reckoned by the rate of its beats.
  • sgarbato [Italian] Rude, unkind, impolite.
  • attack The method of beginning a phrase.
  • leggiero [Italian] Light, delicate.