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

  • bravura [Italian] Literally, “skill”. Great dexterity and skill in execution.
  • suono [Italian] Sound.
  • cantio [Latin] A religious, monophonic, Latin song of the later Middle Ages.
  • triad A chord made up of three notes.
  • moins [French] “Less”.
  • duplet A group of two notes played in the time usually taken to play three.
  • lebhaft [German] Lively.
  • habanera [Spanish] Moderate duple meter dance of Cuban origin, popular in the nineteenth century. It is based on a characteristic rhythmic figure.
  • Motown A style of music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the late 1960s.
  • fiero [Italian] Proud, haughty, noble.
  • quintet A piece for five singers or instrumentalists. Also, a group of such musicians.
  • soul A style of composition developed in America in the 1960s conveying strong emotion. This style of music is characterized by dramatic delivery of the vocal line, commonly including wails, sighs, cries, falsetto, whispers, etc.
  • vamp Short passage with simple rhythm and harmony that introduces a soloist.
  • subject The melody upon which a fugue is based; a melody, motive, or theme. The theme or melody upon which any composition is based.
  • bene [Italian] “Well” or “good”.