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…

You may browse the glossary alphabetically, or directly search for a term by using the search box above.

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

  • compound meter Meter in which each beat is divisible by three rather than two.
  • camminando [Italian] Literally, “walking”. With easy and gentle progression.
  • syncopation Deliberate upsetting of the meter or pulse of a composition by means of a temporary shifting of the accent to a weak beat.
  • divertissment [French] A light, entertaining dance and music combination related to the divertimento.
  • grace note Ornamental note, often printed in small type.
  • masque [French] English genre of aristocratic entertainment that combined vocal and instrumental music with poetry and dance, developed during the 16th and 17th centuries.
  • 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.
  • glee An English part song for three or more voices originating in the 17th century.
  • Klang [German] Sound, tune, ringing, sonority.
  • senza [Italian] “Without”.
  • sight-reading The practice of playing or singing a composition at sight, without previous preparation.
  • madrigal Renaissance secular work originating in Italy for voices, with or without instruments, set to a short, lyric love poem.
  • comme ci-dessus [French] “As above”.
  • round Perpetual canon at the unison in which each voice enters in succession with the same melody.
  • strathspey A lively Scottish dance in 4/4 time related to the reel. A characteristic of this dance is the peculiar rhythmic pattern of a dotted eighth note followed by a sixteenth, known as the Scotch snap.