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

  • meno [Italian] “Less”.
  • quickstep A dance popular in the 1920s in duple meter. Also, a fast march.
  • coda [Italian] Literally, “tail”. The last part of a piece, usually added to a standard form to bring it to a close.
  • form The structure of a composition, the frame upon which it is constructed.
  • Cecilia [Italian] Saint honored as the patroness of music.
  • dur [French] Literally, “hard”. With a harsh or ungraceful tone.
  • head joint The top section of a flute, with the tone hole where the player initiates the sound by blowing air across the opening.
  • romantic The era of music following the classical period, going from about 1815 to 1910.
  • bas [French] Low in pitch.
  • come prima [Italian] “As before”. A directive to return to a previous tempo or to play a particular passage in the manner of a previous passage.
  • vivacissimo [Italian] A fast tempo, faster than vivace.
  • serein [French] Serene, calm.
  • codetta [Italian] Literally, “little tail”. A passage similar to a coda, but on a smaller scale, concluding a section of a work instead of the work as a whole.
  • a tempo [Italian] A directive to return to the original tempo after a deliberate deviation.
  • springer An ornament consisting of the main tone followed by the tone above it followed by the tone above that, then returning to the original main tone.