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

Hint: Don't worry about accents over letters, just skip them.

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…

You may browse the glossary alphabetically, or directly search for a term by using the search box above.

If you are looking for a symbol, check out our Guide to Musical Symbols.

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

  • quieto [Italian] Calm, serene.
  • sehr [German] “Very”, “much”.
  • note A notational symbol used to represent the duration of a sound and, when placed on a music staff, to also indicate the pitch of the sound.
  • Ländler [German] A folk dance in 3/4 time which was popular in Austria, south Germany and German Switzerland at the end of the 18th century.
  • lyrics The words of a song.
  • ricapitolazione [Italian] Recapitulation.
  • inconsolato [Italian] Disconsolate, mournful.
  • transcription Either notating an unnotated piece, or rewriting a piece, either simply recopying, as for clarity, or as an arrangement for another instrument.
  • varsovienne [French] A French dance in 3/4 time with a moderate tempo.
  • concertante [Italian] A part that calls for some element of solo performance, as in a classical concerto.
  • 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.
  • alto flute A flute pitched in the key of G, sounding a 4th lower than the concert flute.
  • section A group of identical or similar instruments in an ensemble.
  • toujours [French] Always.
  • through-composed Song form that is composed from beginning to end without repetitions of any major sections, each verse having its own, unique melody.