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…

You may browse the glossary alphabetically, or directly search for a term by using the search box above.

If you are looking for a symbol, check out our Guide to Musical Symbols.

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

  • theme group Several themes in the same key that function as a unit within a section of a form, particularly in sonata-allegro form.
  • triple meter A metrical pattern having three beats to a measure.
  • direct motion Similar or parallel motion in which two or more parts rise or fall in the same direction simultaneously.
  • cakewalk Traditional, syncopated African-American form of music and dance which originated among slaves in the Southern United States.
  • hairpin The symbol, made up of two joined lines, used to indicate a crescendo or a decrescendo.
  • section A group of identical or similar instruments in an ensemble.
  • ictus [Latin] The instant when a beat occurs.
  • pantomime Theatrical genre in which an actor silently plays all the parts in a show while accompanied by singing.
  • courante [French] A family of triple meter dances from the late Renaissance and the Baroque era.
  • choral prelude Short baroque organ composition in which a traditional melody is embellished.
  • toujours [French] Always.
  • rigore [Italian] Rigour.
  • Kammer [German] Chamber, room.
  • xylophone A percussion instrument consisting of a row of chromatically tuned wooden bars, arranged in the manner of a piano keyboard.
  • breath mark Indication of where to breathe in vocal and wind instrument parts. It may look like a large comma or apostrophe or like a tick/checkmark (✓), and is always written above the staff.