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

  • head voice The highest register of the voice, excluding falsetto.
  • religioso [Italian] Religious, devout.
  • sopra [Italian] “Above”.
  • instrument Any device used to create music.
  • glissando [Italian] Rapid slide through pitches of a scale. A glissando with the voice is known as portamento.
  • tertian harmony Term applied to harmony which is based upon the interval of the third.
  • legatissimo [Italian] Very legato, extremely smooth and connected.
  • outer voices The highest and the lowest voices in a polyphonic composition.
  • rallentando [Italian] Slowing down.
  • rant A country dance of Scotland and Northern England in duple meter and binary form.
  • con forza [Italian] “With force”, vigorously.
  • natural key A key whose signature contains no sharps or flats; basically, C major and A minor.
  • verve [French] A high degree of energy, excitement or spirit. Often referred to as the artistic inspiration and special feeling of excitement that is used by artists to realize the expression of ideas in performance or composition.
  • simple interval An interval covering a single octave or less.
  • suives [French] Literally, “follow”. A directive to an accompanist to follow the musical interpretation of the soloist.