Multilingual Music Glossary

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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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Some random terms

  • staff Series of five horizontal lines upon and between which the musical notes are written, thus indicating, in connection with a clef, their pitch.
  • treble The highest part of a polyphonic composition.
  • medley A piece of music that is composed of melodies of other compositons strung together.
  • recitative A flexible style of vocal delivery employed in opera, oratorio, and cantata and tailored to the accents and rhythms of the text.
  • finale [Italian] The last movement in a composition of several movements.
  • octave Interval between two tones seven diatonic pitches apart; the upper tone vibrates twice as fast as the lower one.
  • heptatonic scale Any scale of seven tones.
  • bene [Italian] “Well” or “good”.
  • monophony Music that is written for only one voice or part.
  • chromatic scale A scale consisting of all 12 semitones.
  • inversion The position of a chord when the fundamental is not the lowest note. Also, the inversion of the order of the notes of an interval, obtained by raising or lowering either of the notes the necessary number of octaves.
  • dynamics The softness or loudness of a sound or note.
  • responsorial singing Singing, especially in Gregorian chant, in which a soloist or a group of soloists alternates with the choir.
  • choir A group of singers who perform together, usually in parts, with several on each part.
  • string quartet An ensemble consisting of two violins, viola, and cello, or a work composed for such an ensemble.