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

  • Rinaldi numbers A numbering system identifying compositions by Antonio Vivaldi.
  • expression The blend of feeling and intellect brought to a performance by the performer.
  • middle C First C below the 440 Hz A. It is the note on the ledger line halfway between the bass and treble clef on the grand staff. It is the lowest C that a concert flute can make.
  • secular Nonreligious.
  • sempre [Italian] Always.
  • meter The basic scheme of note values and accents which remains unaltered throughout a composition or a section of it.
  • cupo [Italian] Dark, obscure.
  • eilen [German] To hasten, to accelerate.
  • seconda volta [Italian] “Second time”; may refer to the second ending of a repetition.
  • sight-reading The practice of playing or singing a composition at sight, without previous preparation.
  • formalism The tendency to elevate the formal aspects above the expressive value in music, as in Neoclassical music.
  • enharmonic Two notes, intervals, or scales having different names but equal pitch.
  • serioso [Italian] Serious, grave.
  • gavotte [French] Duple meter baroque dance of a pastoral character.
  • chorale Baroque congregational hymn of the German Lutheran church, usually written for four voice harmony.