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

  • 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.
  • troppo [Italian] Too much.
  • staccato [Italian] A style of playing notes in a detached, separated, distinct manner, as opposed to legato.
  • Cecilia [Italian] Saint honored as the patroness of music.
  • Werke ohne Opuszahl [German] “Works without opus number”. A catalogue prepared in 1955 by Harry Halm and Georg Kinsky, listing all of the compositions of Ludwig van Beethoven that were not originally published with an opus number, or survived only as fragments. The abbreviation is also used sometime to refer to works without opus by other composers.
  • irato [Italian] Irate, angry.
  • Kantor [German] Music director of a Lutheran church, and usually the director of music at a school or institution attached to the church as well.
  • rest A symbol standing for a measured break in the sound with a defined duration.
  • trio [Italian] A composition for three performers.
  • quadruple meter Metrical pattern with four beats to a measure.
  • placido [Italian] Calm, placid.
  • march A military piece characterized by strongly accented duple meter and clear sectional structures.
  • zeloso [Italian] Zealous, keen, earnest.
  • contrary motion Simultaneous motion of two voices, one of which is in opposition to the other, with one voice rising in pitch while the other one falls in pitch.
  • modulation Moving from one key to another.