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

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

  • più [Italian] “More”.
  • punk rock Subgenre of rock popular since the mid 1970s, characterized by loud volume levels, driving rhythms and simple forms typical of earlier rock and roll; often contains shocking lyrics and offensive behavior.
  • genre Term used to identify a general category of music that shares similar performance forces, formal structures and/or style.
  • recitative A flexible style of vocal delivery employed in opera, oratorio, and cantata and tailored to the accents and rhythms of the text.
  • bestimmt [German] With decision.
  • through-composed Song form that is composed from beginning to end without repetitions of any major sections, each verse having its own, unique melody.
  • section A group of identical or similar instruments in an ensemble.
  • bergamasca [Italian] A kind of Renaissance clumsy rustic dance.
  • riser A metal section on the head joint of a flute, shaped like a ‛top hat with the top cut off’, which raises the lip plate from the head joint tube.
  • affabile [Italian] Affable, pleasant.
  • falsetto [Italian] Vocal technique whereby men can sing above their normal range, producing a lighter sound.
  • romance [French] Originally a ballad; in the Romantic era, a lyric instrumental work.
  • fifth An interval of five diatonic degrees, counting the first and last degree.
  • binary measure A measure containing two beats.
  • ripieno [Italian] The larger of the two ensembles in the concerto grosso.