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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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

  • round Perpetual canon at the unison in which each voice enters in succession with the same melody.
  • ancora [Italian] “Still”, as in “still more slowly”.
  • florid Rich, embellished.
  • circular breathing Technique used by players of some wind instruments to produce a continuous tone without interruption. This is accomplished by breathing in through the nose while simultaneously blowing out through the mouth using air stored in the cheeks.
  • con furia [Italian] “With fury”.
  • clef In musical notation, a symbol at the beginning of a staff that determines the pitches of the lines and spaces. The most common clefs are treble, for indicating pitches mostly above middle C, and bass, for indicating pitches mostly below middle C.
  • piangendo [Italian] Literally, “crying”. In a tearful, mournful or plaintive manner.
  • flat An accidental symbol that lowers the pitch of a note by a semitone.
  • cakewalk Traditional, syncopated African-American form of music and dance which originated among slaves in the Southern United States.
  • tailgate A slang term for a trombone Glissando in Dixieland jazz.
  • volando [Italian] Flying.
  • maestro [Italian] A title of respect given to a master musician.
  • style Characteristic manner of presentation of musical elements: melody, rhythm, harmony, dynamics, form, etc.
  • stretto [Italian] In a fugue, that situation in which the subject and answer overlap one another, or when two subjects enter in close succession.
  • sonata-allegro form The opening movement of the sonata cycle, consisting of themes that are stated in the first section (exposition), developed in the second section (development), and restated in the third section (recapitulation).