Multilingual Music Glossary

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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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Some random terms

  • one hundred and twenty-eighth note A note having the time duration of one hundred twenty-eighth of the time duration of a whole note.
  • countermelody A sequence of notes, perceived as a melody, written to be played simultaneously with a more prominent melody.
  • neoclassical Term applied to 20th century composers who use the forms and thematic processes of the classical era.
  • ritenuto [Italian] Literally, “kept back”. Immediate reduction of speed.
  • rumba [Spanish] A dance originating in Cuba as a combination of the musical traditions of Spanish colonizers and of Africans brought to Cuba as slaves.
  • sideman A slang term for a musician in an ensemble who is not the leader of the ensemble.
  • double trill A simultaneous trill on two notes, usually in the distance of a third.
  • polyphony Music written in a combination of several simultaneous voices (parts) of a more or less pronounced individuality.
  • parallel motion In part writing, parallel motion occurs when two voices move keeping exactly the same interval between them.
  • tailgate A slang term for a trombone Glissando in Dixieland jazz.
  • music Broadly speaking, sounds organized to express a wide variety of human emotions.
  • custos [Latin] (Plural: custodes.) A symbol that appears at the end of a staff line with a single voice). It anticipates the first note of the following line and thus helps the player or singer to manage line breaks during performance. Custodes were frequently used until the 16th century.
  • natural minor scale A scale similar to the major scale, but with the third, sixth and seventh degrees lowered by a semitone.
  • backfall A descending appoggiatura.
  • volte [French] A Renaissance dance for couples in triple meter.