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

  • affannato [Italian] Anguished.
  • console [French] Keyboard, stops and foot pedals of an organ.
  • brace A symbol that looks like an archer's bow, used to connect two or more different staves that are to be played at the same time by the same instrument (e.g. a piano, a organ or a harp). This should not be confused with the bracket, that provides a visual connection between independent parts of a system.
  • con tenerezza [Italian] “With tenderness”.
  • mordent An ornament indicating that a note is to be played in a single rapid alternation with the note above or below.
  • forte [Italian] “Loud”.
  • new age Style of popular music of the 1980s and 1990s, characterized by soothing timbres and repetitive forms that are subjected to shifting variation techniques.
  • quodlibet [Latin] A humorous composition that contains snatches of popular melodies and texts presented concurrently or consecutively.
  • Rinaldi numbers A numbering system identifying compositions by Antonio Vivaldi.
  • ossia [Italian] An alternative version of a music, usually only a few measures long and marked as an added staff.
  • Empfindung [German] Feeling, sentiment.
  • un pochettino [Italian] A little bit.
  • fresco [Italian] “Fresh”, vigorous, lively.
  • part In instrumental or choral music, the music for a single instrument or voice.
  • cavatina [Italian] Originally, a short song of simple character, without a second strain or any repetition of the air. It is now frequently applied to a simple melodious air, as distinguished from a brilliant aria or recitative, and often forms part of a large movement or scena in oratorio or opera.