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

  • rhythm and blues An American music style popular between the 1940s and 1960s. Generally played by a lead vocalist or instrumentalist, a rhythm section, and an ensemble of voices, wind instruments, or guitar. Most R&B is vocal, in quadruple time, and in a major key, but characterized by blue notes.
  • calmato [Italian] Calm.
  • art music Music implying advanced structural and theoretical considerations and a written musical tradition. It is frequently used as a contrasting term to popular music and folk music.
  • ska A music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, combining elements of Caribbean music with American jazz and rhythm and blues. It is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the offbeat.
  • pianississimo [Italian] Extremely soft, softer than pianissimo.
  • grosso [Italian] Large, great, grand.
  • cabaletta [Italian] A form of aria within 19th century Italian opera. It is usually found as the last part of a double aria, with the scena, cantabile and the tempo di mezzo preceeding it. It is often in a fast tempo.
  • con tenerezza [Italian] “With tenderness”.
  • motive The briefest intelligible and self-contained fragment of a musical theme or subject.
  • quarter tone Half a semitone.
  • through-composed Song form that is composed from beginning to end without repetitions of any major sections, each verse having its own, unique melody.
  • siciliana [Italian] A type of aria or instrumental movement in the late 17th and 18th centuries, normally written as a dance in a slow 6/8 or 12/8 time with short phrases.
  • tablature Any form of musical notation using symbols or letters rather than notes on the staff to describe pitches.
  • tremolo [Italian] A rapid alternation between two notes.
  • alt [German] Term used to indicate the tones of the first octave above the treble staff (G5 to F6), which are said to be “in alt”.