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

  • disco Commercial dance music popular in the 1970s, characterized by strong percussion in a quadruple meter.
  • accablement [French] Despondency, oppression.
  • tardo [Italian] Slow.
  • piano [Italian] Softly, quietly.
  • ritardando [Italian] Gradually delaying the tempo.
  • oral transmission Preservation of music without the aid of written notation.
  • non-harmonic note In part writing, a note that is dissonant with other notes in the same chord.
  • canción [Spanish] A popular genre of Latin American music, particularly in Cuba, where many of the compositions originate.
  • arabesque [French] An ornament or an embellished work. The term is taken from the Arabic art and architecture which is very ornate.
  • mediant The third note of a diatonic scale.
  • polyharmony Two or more streams of harmony played against each other; common in twentieth century music.
  • con amore [Italian] “With love”, lovingly.
  • légèrement [French] Lightly.
  • Abendmusik [German] Evening music, usually religious in nature, originating in the 17th century.
  • allegrezza [Italian] Cheerfulness, happiness, joyfulness.