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 2484 terms from 12 languages, including English, Italian, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Finnish, Latin…

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Some random terms

  • funk American musical style that originated in the 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, soul jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music.
  • incalzando [Italian] In a pressing or chasing manner.
  • whole tone scale A scale built entirely of whole tone intervals. Used commonly by the French impressionists.
  • habanera [Spanish] Moderate duple meter dance of Cuban origin, popular in the nineteenth century. It is based on a characteristic rhythmic figure.
  • countermelody A sequence of notes, perceived as a melody, written to be played simultaneously with a more prominent melody.
  • reduction A simplified arrangement of a composition.
  • allant [French] Going on, lively.
  • villanelle [French] A French term used in the 16th century for pastoral poems or songs. The term was later revived, and applied to compositions by later composers.
  • lydian The church mode based on F, containing the notes of the C major scale, yet using F as the tonic.
  • parlando [Italian] “Speaking”.
  • bizzarro [Italian] Odd, whimsical, irregular.
  • calypso A style of Afro-Caribbean music which originated in Trinidad and Tobago in the beginning of the 20th century.
  • Nachahmung [German] Imitation.
  • duplet A group of two notes played in the time usually taken to play three.
  • pasticcio [Italian] A composition assembled from passages taken from numerous other sources by various composers.