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

  • camminando [Italian] Literally, “walking”. With easy and gentle progression.
  • arrangement A rewriting of a piece of existing music with additional new material, or a fleshing-out of a compositional sketch. If a musical adaptation does not include new material, it is more accurately termed a transcription or orchestration.
  • art music Music implying advanced structural and theoretical considerations and a written musical tradition. It is frequently used as a contrasting term to popular music and folk music.
  • mezzo piano [Italian] Moderately soft. Not quite so soft as piano.
  • quarter note A note having the time duration of one fourth of a whole note.
  • spiccato [Italian] Very separated, detached.
  • fifth An interval of five diatonic degrees, counting the first and last degree.
  • sinfonietta [Italian] An orchestral work of smaller proportions than a full symphony.
  • canticle A sacred hymn or song.
  • vocalese A style or genre of jazz singing wherein lyrics are written for melodies that were originally part of an all-instrumental composition or improvisation.
  • quintus [Latin] Term used in the 16th century for the fifth voice in a composition having five or more vocal parts. Sometimes it was a countermelody added on top of the usual four voices.
  • ohne [German] “Without”.
  • xylophone A percussion instrument consisting of a row of chromatically tuned wooden bars, arranged in the manner of a piano keyboard.
  • tacet [Latin] Literally, “he is silent”. An indication that a performer is to be silent for some time.
  • MIDI Acronym for “Musical Instrument Digital Interface”; technology standard that allows networking of computers with electronic musical instruments.