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

Hint: Don't worry about accents over letters, just skip them.

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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If you are looking for a symbol, check out our Guide to Musical Symbols.

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

  • volando [Italian] Flying.
  • canto [Italian] Literally, “singing”. The highest vocal part in choral music.
  • decay The time that it takes for a note to die away once the musician has stopped producing the sound.
  • intonation A term referring to the proper production of a tone so that it is exactly in tune.
  • whole tone An interval of two semitones, a major second.
  • ska A music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, combining elements of Caribbean music with American jazz and rhythm and blues. It is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the offbeat.
  • zu [German] Shown as zu2, zu3, etc., it is a directive to indicate the number of musicians to perform the indicated passage of music.
  • Opp. [Latin] Plural of Op.
  • concert A public musical performance.
  • bestimmt [German] With decision.
  • soli [Italian] “Alone” (plural form). A directive to perform with an entire section of an ensemble.
  • baton The stick used by the conductor to define the beat of the music. Also, a light metal rod used for keeping time, twirling and juggling in marching band performances.
  • simile [Italian] “Similar”. Often used to designate the continuation of the use of an articulation without repeating the articulation symbol.
  • teneramente [Italian] Tenderly.
  • burlesque [French] A humorous composition, usually involving parody or grotesque exaggeration.