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

  • canto [Italian] Literally, “singing”. The highest vocal part in choral music.
  • à la [French] In the manner of.
  • con slancio [Italian] With energy.
  • blues African-American music genre, characterized by simple repetitive structures and by the use of the blues chord progressions and the blue notes.
  • zeloso [Italian] Zealous, keen, earnest.
  • clos [French] The second ending of a repeated section.
  • concert A public musical performance.
  • foxtrot Ballroom dance popular in the 19th century.
  • refrain [French] A verse which repeats throughout a song or poem at given intervals.
  • Kantor [German] Music director of a Lutheran church, and usually the director of music at a school or institution attached to the church as well.
  • interval Difference in pitch between two notes.
  • plainte [French] A song or instrumental composition with a slow, lamenting character.
  • fortissimo-piano [Italian] A dynamic marking (ffp) indicating that the marked note should be attacked very loudly, instantly diminishing to a much softer volume.
  • sostenuto [Italian] Sustained.
  • canzone [Italian] Literally, “song”. An Italian or Provençal song or ballad. It is also used to describe a type of lyric which resembles a madrigal. Sometimes a composition which is simple and songlike is designated as a canzone, especially if it is by a non-Italian.