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

  • liturgy In those churches that use standard written forms of services, the ritual or service of public worship.
  • brace A symbol that looks like an archer's bow, used to connect two or more different staves that are to be played at the same time by the same instrument (e.g. a piano, a organ or a harp). This should not be confused with the bracket, that provides a visual connection between independent parts of a system.
  • eight note A note having the time duration of one eighth of a whole note.
  • vif [French] A tempo directive meaning “lively”.
  • figure A short musical phrase.
  • lai [French] A song form composed in northern Europe, mainly France and Germany, from the 13th to the late 14th century.
  • sforzando [Italian] Literally, “forcing”. Dynamic marking indicating a strong, sudden accent.
  • klein [German] Literally, “little”. In reference to intervals, “minor“.
  • fragmentation The technique of developing a theme by dividing it into smaller units; most common in the music of the Viennese Classicists.
  • lointain [French] “Distant”, “faraway”.
  • quadruple meter Metrical pattern with four beats to a measure.
  • à la [French] In the manner of.
  • marziale [Italian] Martial, with a military feeling.
  • stinger A chord at the end of a march that is used to punctuate the ending of the composition. The stinger is typically played by the entire ensemble on the last beat of the last measure of the composition and contains an accent.
  • heptatonic scale Any scale of seven tones.