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

  • misterioso [Italian] Mysterious.
  • tourney A composition created for a tournament, popular in the 17th century especially in Italy and France. Tourneys were often used in weddings and other festive occasions.
  • meter The basic scheme of note values and accents which remains unaltered throughout a composition or a section of it.
  • blues African-American music genre, characterized by simple repetitive structures and by the use of the blues chord progressions and the blue notes.
  • tombeau [French] Literally, “grave”. An instrumental funeral composition or a composition which commemorates the death of someone.
  • overtone A constituent frequency of a sound other than the fundamental frequency.
  • popular music Music of the common people.
  • gigue [French] A lively baroque dance in compound meter originating from the British jig, imported into France in the mid-17th century. It usually appears at the end of a suite.
  • da capo [Italian] Literally, “from the beginning”. A directive to go back to the beginning of the composition.
  • volta [Italian] “Time”, as in “first time” (prima volta) or “second time” (seconda volta).
  • gracieusement [French] Gracefully.
  • ballad In jazz and popular music, a short song in a slow tempo, usually with a romantic or sentimental text.
  • non troppo [Italian] Not too much.
  • recitativo accompagnato [Italian] Recitative accompanied by the entire orchestra.
  • tasto solo [Italian] Literally, “key only”. A directive indicating that a note is to be performed without harmony, especially used in compositions that use continuo.