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

  • cadence A sequence of chords that terminates a musical phrase or section.
  • root position The position of a chord when the base pitch of the chord is in the lowest voice.
  • secco [Italian] Literally, “dry”. A directive to perform in an unornamented, cold manner. It usually implies that the notes should be of short duration.
  • timbre [French] The quality of a sound; that component of a tone that causes different instruments (for example a flute and a violin) to sound different from each other while they are both playing the same note.
  • foxtrot Ballroom dance popular in the 19th century.
  • conjunct Smooth, connected, moving in stepwise motion.
  • rest A symbol standing for a measured break in the sound with a defined duration.
  • larghissimo [Italian] An extremely slow tempo, slower than largo.
  • vivace [Italian] A fast tempo marking, usually around 140 BPM.
  • arabesque [French] An ornament or an embellished work. The term is taken from the Arabic art and architecture which is very ornate.
  • trio [Italian] A composition for three performers.
  • 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.
  • tosto [Italian] Swiftly, rapidly.
  • invention Mostly in reference to baroque music, a short, contrapuntal composition, usually implying an originality of idea.
  • doppio [Italian] “Double”.