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

  • bas [French] Low in pitch.
  • da capo [Italian] Literally, “from the beginning”. A directive to go back to the beginning of the composition.
  • niente [Italian] Literally, “nothing”. With almost no sound.
  • opus [Latin] A number, often assigned by a publisher, used to classify a particular work of a composer.
  • clavier [French] Any keyboard instrument.
  • Wiederholung [German] Repetition.
  • gospel music Twentieth century sacred music style associated with Protestant African-Americans.
  • verve [French] A high degree of energy, excitement or spirit. Often referred to as the artistic inspiration and special feeling of excitement that is used by artists to realize the expression of ideas in performance or composition.
  • easy listening A genre of popular music that is meant to be soothing and relaxing to the listener.
  • progressive rock A subgenre of rock that reached its peak in the early 1970s and attempted to blend the visceral style of rock music with outside influences: classical, jazz, folk, and world musics, for example.
  • fusion Style that combines jazz improvisation with amplified instruments of rock.
  • teneramente [Italian] Tenderly.
  • cantor [Latin] Solo singer or singing leader in Jewish and Christian liturgical music.
  • lentamente [Italian] Slowly.
  • fundamental The base note upon which a chord is built.