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

  • compound interval An interval greater than an octave.
  • 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.
  • grandioso [Italian] Majestic, grand, noble.
  • Zungenstoss [German] Tongue thrust.
  • tombeau [French] Literally, “grave”. An instrumental funeral composition or a composition which commemorates the death of someone.
  • militare [Italian] Military.
  • caesura [Latin] Break or interruption in music, with complete cessation of musical time. It is notated by two diagonal lines across the top line of a staff.
  • largo [Italian] A slow and solemn tempo marking, usually around 40–60 BPM.
  • con furia [Italian] “With fury”.
  • lauda [Latin] Laud, hymn of praise.
  • walking bass In baroque music, a bass line that moves steadily in a rhythm contrasting to that of the upper parts.
  • theme and variations A style of composition that first presents a basic theme and then develops and alters that theme in successive statements.
  • riflessivo [Italian] Reflective, thoughtful.
  • opus [Latin] A number, often assigned by a publisher, used to classify a particular work of a composer.
  • open fifth A chord comprised of the tonic and the fifth, with no third present.