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

  • giubilo [Italian] Rejoicing, jubilation.
  • burlesque [French] A humorous composition, usually involving parody or grotesque exaggeration.
  • Leben [German] Life, vivacity.
  • a cappella [Italian] Choral or vocal music performed without instrumental accompaniment.
  • lointain [French] “Distant”, “faraway”.
  • fiero [Italian] Proud, haughty, noble.
  • rallentando [Italian] Slowing down.
  • squillante [Italian] Ringing.
  • foot joint The last section of a flute, played farthest towards the right.
  • radical bass An bass line produced by linking the fundamentals of the chords in a progression.
  • melody Succession of single tones or pitches perceived by the mind as a unity.
  • natural A symbol placed by a note signifying that the note should be played unaltered, as opposed to the sharp or flat of the note.
  • register A division of the range of an instrument or singing voice. Usually registers are defined by a change in the quality of the sound between a lower range and a higher range.
  • senza [Italian] “Without”.
  • gigue [French] A lively baroque dance in compound meter originating from the British jig, imported into France in the mid-17th century. It usually appears at the end of a suite.