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

  • poco a poco [Italian] Little by little.
  • verse A single line in a metrical composition, e.g. a poem. However, the word has come to represent any division or grouping of words in such a composition, which traditionally had been referred to as a stanza.
  • eight note A note having the time duration of one eighth of a whole note.
  • big band A type of musical ensemble associated with playing jazz music and which became popular during the Swing Era from the early 1930s until the late 1940s. A big band typically consists of approximately 12 to 25 musicians and contains saxophones, trumpets, trombones and a rhythm section.
  • diabolus in musica [Latin] Literally, “the devil in music”. A medieval name for the tritone.
  • jarabe [Spanish] Traditional Mexican dance form with multiple sections in contrasting meters and tempos.
  • major Term referring to a sequence of notes that define the tonality of the major scale. This series consists of seven notes: the tonic, followed by the next note a whole step up from the tonic, the third is a whole step from the second, the fourth is a half step from the third, the fifth is a whole step from the fourth, the sixth is a whole step from the fifth, the seventh is another whole step, followed by the tonic, a half step above the seventh.
  • musique concrète [French] Music made up of natural sounds and sound effects that are recorded and then manipulated electronically.
  • concertino [Italian] The small group of solo instruments used in a concerto grosso in contrast to the whole body of the orchestra.
  • split E mechanism On a flute, a system whereby the second G key (positioned below the G♯ key) is closed when the right middle-finger key is depressed, enabling a clearer third octave E; standard on most flutes, but omitted from many intermediate- and professional-grade flutes, as it can reduce the tonal quality of 3rd octave F♯.
  • fife A small flute with a narrower bore, thus producing a higher, more piercing sound than a flute. Generally used in military bands.
  • cantando [Italian] Singing.
  • stentato [Italian] Labored, heavy, in a dragging manner, sluggish. Alternatively, strong and forced.
  • pastorale [Italian] Pastoral, country-like.
  • lamentoso [Italian] Like a lament, plaintive.