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

  • galliard [French] Lively triple-meter French court dance.
  • Manualiter [German] Organ compositions that are to be performed on the manual alone, i.e. without the pedals.
  • branle [French] Quick French group dance of the Renaissance.
  • stanchezza [Italian] Weariness.
  • caesura [Latin] Break or interruption in music, with complete cessation of musical time. It is notated by two diagonal lines across the top line of a staff.
  • difference tone A lower tone that is heard when two higher notes are played in such a way that the frequency of the difference tone is the difference of the frequencies of the other two notes.
  • martellato [Italian] Literally, “hammered”. Strongly marked.
  • instrument Any device used to create music.
  • legato [Italian] Literally, “tied together”. A directive to perform a certain passage in a smooth, connected style. It is usually indicated by a slur over the affected notes.
  • innocentemente Innocently.
  • aubade [French] A song or instrumental composition concerning, accompanying, or evoking daybreak.
  • polyphony Music written in a combination of several simultaneous voices (parts) of a more or less pronounced individuality.
  • vite [French] Fast.
  • octave Interval between two tones seven diatonic pitches apart; the upper tone vibrates twice as fast as the lower one.
  • enharmonic Two notes, intervals, or scales having different names but equal pitch.