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

  • eilig [German] Hurried, hasty, speedy.
  • terzetto [Italian] A three-voice compositional form of the 18th century, usually short, which may or may not be accompanied.
  • diatonic scale A seven note musical scale, consisting of five whole steps and two half steps.
  • secular Nonreligious.
  • countersubject The secondary theme of a fugue, heard against the subject.
  • alterezza [Italian] Pride or haughtiness.
  • precisamente [Italian] Precisely, exactly.
  • libero [Italian] Literally, “free”. A directive to perform in a free, unrestrained style.
  • early music European music from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Baroque.
  • overtone A constituent frequency of a sound other than the fundamental frequency.
  • family A grouping of instruments which produce sound in the same manner and are constructed in the same way but in different sizes, such as the flute family, the clarinet family, the violin family and so on.
  • comp Jazz term used to describe the accompaniment backing up a soloist.
  • clavier [French] Any keyboard instrument.
  • ritardando [Italian] Gradually delaying the tempo.
  • binary form Two-part structure of music; usually each part is repeated.