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

  • très [French] “Very”, “much”.
  • walking bass In baroque music, a bass line that moves steadily in a rhythm contrasting to that of the upper parts.
  • altissimo [German] Term used to indicate the tones of the second octave above the treble staff (G6 to F7), which are said to be “in altissimo”.
  • adagissimo [Italian] An extremely slow tempo marking, slower than adagio.
  • duet A composition for two performers.
  • diminution A Renaissance and Baroque ornamentation which consists of the restatement of a melody in which the note values are shortened, usually by half.
  • cantata [Italian] A baroque genre for voice(s) and instruments based on a poem, including recitatives, arias, and sometimes choruses.
  • well-tempered A term applied to an instrument that is voiced and tuned satisfactorily, with the pitches, tone, and timbre having the desired quality of sound.
  • habanera [Spanish] Moderate duple meter dance of Cuban origin, popular in the nineteenth century. It is based on a characteristic rhythmic figure.
  • rinforzare [Italian] To reinforce.
  • bolero [Spanish] A moderately slow Spanish dance in 3/4 time.
  • retrograde Backward statement of a melody.
  • larghissimo [Italian] An extremely slow tempo, slower than largo.
  • triste [Italian] Sad.
  • dopo [Italian] “After”.