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

  • leading note The major seventh of a scale, so called because it lies a semitone below the tonic and “leads” towards it.
  • dolente [Italian] Sorrowful.
  • double exposition In a concerto, a twofold statement of the theme, once by the orchestra and once by the soloist.
  • ritenuto [Italian] Literally, “kept back”. Immediate reduction of speed.
  • program symphony A multi-movement composition with extra-musical content that directs the attention of the listener to a literary or pictorial association.
  • fife A small flute with a narrower bore, thus producing a higher, more piercing sound than a flute. Generally used in military bands.
  • mit Steigerung [German] With exaltation.
  • one hundred and twenty-eighth note A note having the time duration of one hundred twenty-eighth of the time duration of a whole note.
  • phrasing The clear rendering in musical performance of the phrases of a melody.
  • etwas [German] “Somewhat”.
  • Meistergesang [German] A tradition of songwriting and performance in Germany during the Middle Ages and early Renaissance.
  • variation An altered version of a rhythm, motive, or theme.
  • pop Term born as an abbreviation of popular music, that since the 1950s has been used in the sense of a musical genre, originally characterized as a lighter alternative to rock and roll.
  • largamente [Italian] With a broad, full sound.
  • envoi [French] A short final stanza of a ballade which serves as a summary or dedication.