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

  • Minnesinger [German] A poet or musician of the Minnesang tradition in Germany, active during the 12th through the 15th centuries.
  • vivacissimo [Italian] A fast tempo, faster than vivace.
  • pavane [French] Stately Renaissance court dance in duple meter.
  • pantomime Theatrical genre in which an actor silently plays all the parts in a show while accompanied by singing.
  • tristezza [Italian] Sadness.
  • vocal cords The vocal organs in the human being which produce sound.
  • concert pitch The tuning pitch of an ensemble, typically A440.
  • madrigal choir Small vocal ensemble that specializes in a cappella secular works.
  • eclogue A rustic poem usually having to do with shepherds, springtime and love. In Romantic piano music, a light, lyrical, uncomplicated composition.
  • col [Italian] “With the”
  • echo A repetition or mimicking of a certain passage, usually with less force and volume than the original statement.
  • giusto [Italian] A directive to perform in an equal, steady, exact tempo.
  • eight note A note having the time duration of one eighth of a whole note.
  • arpeggio [Italian] Broken chord in which the individual tones are sounded one after another instead of simultaneously.
  • son [French] Sound.