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

  • timbre [French] The quality of a sound; that component of a tone that causes different instruments (for example a flute and a violin) to sound different from each other while they are both playing the same note.
  • cassation Classical instrumental genre related to the serenade or divertimento, often performed outdoors.
  • semitone A minor second; the smallest interval in the system of Western music.
  • divertimento [Italian] Instrumental composition intended for entertainment, usually in a number of movements. The term is used particularly in the second half of the 18th century.
  • jazz A musical style created mainly by African-Americans in the early twentieth century that blended elements drawn from African musics with the popular and art traditions of the West.
  • cue-notes In a separate part, notes belonging to another part with the purpose of hinting when to start playing. Usually printed in a smaller type.
  • oblique motion In part-writing, term used when one voice (or more) remains on the same pitch while the other ascends or descends.
  • mainstream Music which is currently popular and in demand.
  • groove Groove is the sense of propulsive rhythmic “feel” or sense of “swing” created by the interaction of the music played by a band's rhythm section (usually drums, electric bass or double bass, guitar, and keyboards).
  • goliard song Medieval Latin-texted secular song, often with corrupt or lewd lyrics; associated with wandering scholars.
  • motive The briefest intelligible and self-contained fragment of a musical theme or subject.
  • ut [Latin] The syllable first associated with the tonic of the key, now replaced by the syllable "Do" but still used in France. In the fixed Do system, this is always C.
  • 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.
  • key signature The sharps or flats appearing at the beginning of each staff indicating the key of the music.
  • simile [Italian] “Similar”. Often used to designate the continuation of the use of an articulation without repeating the articulation symbol.