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Word Origins:   I – Italian    L-Latin    F-French    G-German

absolute music - music whose meaning is abstract, as opposed to program music, which tells a story or projects an image.

accelerando (I) - get faster.

accidentals - sharps, flats, or naturals; they indicate to raise or lower a pitch; naturals are the white keys on the piano, sharps and flats the black keys.

adagio (I) - slow; a slow movement.

ad libitum (L) - at liberty, may be omitted.

affettuoso (I) - tenderly.

alla (I) - in the style of.

alla breve (I) - counted with two beats per measure, each beat represented by a half-note.

allegretto (I) - moderately fast; a moderately fast movement.

allegro (I) - fast; a fast movement.

andante (I) - moderately slow, at a walking tempo; a moderately slow movement.

andantino (I) - not quite as slow as andante (since Mozart); somewhat slower than andante (before Mozart); a movement in andantino tempo.

animato (I) - animated.

antiphonal - sounding in alternation from opposite sides of a performing space.

aperto (I) - broad.

appassionato (I) - passionately.

arch form - symmetrical form in which the outer sections are similar, the penultimate section  resembles the second section, etc.

aria (I) - piece for accompanied solo voice (or for an instrument treated like a voice).

arpeggio (I) - presentation of a chord one note at a time, usually from bottom to top.

assai (I) - very; enough.

athematic - having no consistent melodic theme.

atonality - principle of organization of some twentieth-century music according to notes and intervals but not key or pitch centers (such as C Major).

augmentation - presentation of a theme twice (or more) as slow as normally; opposite of diminution.

Ausdruck (G) - expression.

aüsserst (G) - extremely

bar - measure (of music).   

barline - line separating measures in a score.

Baroque (F) - period in music history roughly between 1600 and 1750.

bass - lowest sounding part.

ben (I) - well.

bewegt (G) - with motion.

breve (I) - short.

bridge - transition, particularly in sonata form.

brio (I) - vigor, spirit.

cadence - ending of a musical phrase.

cadenza (I) - virtuosic passage for an unaccompanied soloist, usually in a concerto, and usually toward the end of a movement.

canon - composition in which two or more voices overlap by playing the same melody at different times (Row, Row, Row Your Boat, e.g.).

cantabile (I) - in a singing fashion.

cantata (I) - composition for solo voice(s), orchestra, and possibly chorus.

cantus firmus (L) - fixed melody, often taken from another source, that is the basis of a composition.

capriccio (I) - free, fanciful, possibly virtuosic piece.

celesta - an instrument with a piano-style keyboard and a bell-like timbre (e.g., the Sugar Plum Fairy music).

chaconne (I) - composition in which a short bass theme is repeated again and again throughout.

chamber - for a small ensemble and/or performance space.

chord - simultaneous sounding of three or more notes.

chromatic - using all twelve notes per octave of the scale (i.e., both black and white keys on the piano); opposite of diatonic.

classic - (1) restrained, carefully structured; opposite of romantic; (2) period in music from roughly 1750 to 1830.

coda (I) - ending section.

comodo (I) - comfortably.

con (I) - with.

concertante (I) - piece, movement, or passage featuring a solo player or group of soloists.

concertino (I) - group of soloists; short work in concerto style.

concerto (I) - composition for a soloist with orchestra.

concerto grosso (I) - composition for small group of soloists accompanied by a larger orchestra.

consonance - stable, restful sound; opposite of dissonance.

continuo (I) - in Baroque music, instruments playing the bass line and the harmony implied by it, usually cello, bassoon, and/or string bass plus keyboard.

contrapuntal - featuring counterpoint.

countermelody - melody played simultaneously with the main melody.

counterpoint - simultaneous setting of two or more melodic lines against each other (almost all music includes counterpoint).

countersubject - countermelody introduced in a fugue while the second voice enters with the main theme.

crescendo (I) - gradual increase of loudness.

cycle - (1) group of related pieces, usually songs; (2) the concert(s) and rehearsal(s) for a particular program.

development - section where the conflict between keys and themes erupts, possibly with great excitement, and where generally  fragments of melodies are used rather than full tunes; see:  sonata form.

diatonic - using primarily the seven tones of the major or minor scale (e.g., white keys of a piano), without chromatic additions; opposite of chromatic.

diminished seventh chord - chord built of three superimposed minor thirds (c-sharp, e, g, b-flat, e.g.).

diminuendo (I) - get gradually softer.

diminution - playing a theme twice as fast as normally; opposite of augmentation.

dissonance - restless, unstable, tense sound in need of resolution; opposite of consonance.

divisi (I) - dividing a group of instruments to play different music, covering more notes than in unison.

doch (G) - nevertheless.

dodecaphony - twelve-tone music.

dolce (I) - sweetly.

dominant - chord on the fifth step of the scale, which is used to imply motion to the tonic.

dotted rhythm - long note followed by short note in the radio 3:1.
 
double fugue - fugue with two subjects.

double stop - simultaneous sounding of two notes on a string instrument.

doubling - performing the same melody by two or more instruments or voices at once.

drone - sustained sound.

duple - divided in half.

dynamics - indications of degrees of loudness.

e (I) - and.

eilen (G) - to hurry.  

etude (I) - study, exercise.

etwas (G) - somewhat.

exposition - first large section of a movement, in which the main themes are presented; see:  sonata form.

expressionism - highly emotional, often morbid, German art and music of the early twentieth century.

fantasia (I) - composition in free form; medley.

fantastico (I) - with free play of fancy.

feierlich (G) - festive; solemn.

fermata (I) - indication that a note or chord is to be held for an indefinite period of time; usually at the end of a piece or movement, or before a cadenza.

ff - fortissimo.

finale (I) - last movement

flat - indication to lower a note by a semitone; playing somewhat under the proper pitch.

forte (I) - loud.

fortissimo (I) - very loud.

fugal entry - appearance of the main melody in a fugue.

fugato (I) - fuguelike passage.

fugue (G) - highly developed composition in which the instruments, voices, or parts begin in imitation.

fuoco (I) - fire; fury.

gemässig - moderate.

giocoso (I) - playfully.

giusto (I) - with precision.

glissando (I) - sliding from one note to another.

grave (I) - extremely slow.

grazia (I) - grace.                    

grazioso (I) - gracefully.

half step - semitone, such as C to C-sharp on the piano.

harmonics - pure overtones usually produced on a string instrument or harp.

harmony - sounding of several notes together to form chords, and the relationship between those.

im (G) - in the.

imitation - answering of a melody with the same melody in another instrument slightly later, as in a canon.

Impressionism - trend in French art and music of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that reflects the artist’s impressions of natural phenomena.

indeterminacy - leaving some aspects of a composition to the performer’s choice.

inesorabile (I) - inexorable. 

intermezzo (I) - interlude.

interval - pitch distance between two notes.

inversion - melody played upside-down; if a melody goes from C to D, up a major second, the inversion is C to B-flat, down a major second.

K. - catalog listing of Mozart’s works, comparable to other composers’ “opus” numbers; named for Köchel, who first cataloged Mozart’s music.

key - (1) mechanism on a wind instrument for opening and closing holes; (2) tonal center of a piece, e.g., C major.

key signature - sharps or flats indicating in which key the music is to be performed.

kräftig (G) - forcefully.

langsam (G) - slow.

larghetto (I) - quite slow.

largo (I) - extremely slow.

leap - sudden move from a low to a high note, or vice versa.

leggiero (I) - delicately.

lebhaft (G) - lively.

legato (I) - smooth.

leitmotif (G) - motive that characterizes a person, place, idea, or emotion, especially found in Richard Wagner’s operas.

lento (I) - slow.

libretto (I) - text of an opera. 

lustig (G) - merrily.

ma (I) - but.

maestoso (I) - in a majestic style.

marcato (I) - marked.

marcia (I) - march.

marziale (I) - martial.

mass  - Roman Catholic liturgical ceremony.

mässig (G) - moderate.

measure - unit of time, bounded by barlines.

mehr (G) - more.

meno (I) - less.

menuetto (I) - minuet.

meter - pattern of strong and weak beats that creates measures.

metronome - machine that ticks at a specific tempo, indicating the number of beats per minute.

microtone - note that is not one of the twelve notes of the chromatic scale but fits in between two of them.

minuet - dignified dance in 3/4  time.

mit (G) - with.

mode - scale other than the typical major or minor, first used in the old Gregorian chant melodies of the Catholic Church.

moderato (I) - moderately.

modulation - change of  a prevailing key center.

molto (I) - very.

morendo (I) - dying away.

mosso (I) - motion.

motive - short figure with a specific shape that can be recognized in a variety of contexts.

moto (I) - motion.

motto - important motive.

movement - quasi-independent piece, part of a larger work.

musicologist - music historian and researcher.

natural - cancellation of a sharp or flat.

nicht (G) - not.

non (I) - not.

nonharmonic tone - note conflicting with prevailing harmony.

obbligato (I) - ornamental, accompanying solo part.

octatonic - scale with alternating half and whole steps.

octave - the pitch eight steps higher or lower than a given note, having the same pitch name (such as C); the interval of greatest consonance after the unison.

ohne (G) - without.

open string - string on violin, viola, cello, or string bass played without placing a finger on it.

opus (L) - work; catalog number.

oratorio (I) - large (usually religious) narrative concert work for soloists, chorus, and orchestra.

ostinato (I) - melodic figure that repeats again and again.

overture - orchestral introduction to an opera; single-movement orchestral composition.

pandiatonicism - free mixture of all seven notes of a diatonic scale.

parallel fifths - two voices a fifth apart moving in the same direction (traditionally avoided in music composition until the 20th Century).

parallel harmony - progression in which all voices move the same amount in the same direction.

parallel major - major key with same tonic (key note) as a given minor key (C major and C minor, e.g.).

parallel minor - minor key with same tonic as a given major key.

passacaglia (I) - composition that uses an ostinato throughout.  

pastorale (I) - composition suggestive of country scenes.

pedal point - note sustained, usually in the bass, during a passage.  

pentatonic - five-note scale (e.g., the black notes on a piano).

perpetuum mobile - rapid piece or passage with relentless repetitive rhythm that seems as if it will never end.

pesante (I) - heavily.

phrase - unit of music that could be sung in one breath or that is analogous to a sentence in spoken language.

piacevole (I) - gracefully.

pianissimo (I) - very soft.

piano (I) - soft; also the keyboard instrument (abbreviation for piano-forte—“soft-loud”).

più (I) - more.

pitch - note or tone.

pizzicato (I) - playing a string instrument by plucking the strings with the finger.

poco (I) - little.

polyphony - simultaneous combination of different melodic lines.

polyrhythm - simultaneous use of contradictory rhythms or meters.  

polytonal - in more than one key simultaneously.

pp - pianissimo. (I)

prestissimo (I) - extraordinarily fast.

presto (I) - very fast.

program music - music that tells a story or paints a picture, as opposed to absolute music.

quadruple fugue - fugue with four subjects.

quarter-tone - note between two adjacent pitches (or what would be 2 keys on the piano); there are also half-tones and three-quarter-tones (think of a ruler).

quasi (I) - as if, like.

recapitulation - restatement of a section heard earlier; see: sonata form.

recitative - musical declamation that is half-spoken and half-sung.

register - how high or low sounds are; e.g., sopranos and basses have different voice registers.

relative major - major key with same key signature as a particular minor key; e.g., G major is the relative major of E minor, because both have one sharp as their key signature.

relative minor - minor key with same key signature as a particular major key; e.g., C minor is the relative minor of E-flat major (three flats).

repeated notes - identical pitches sounded successively.

retrograde - theme played backwards; if original is  C, F, G, the retrograde to G, F, C.

rhapsody - composition in free form with many changes of mood.

ripieno (I) - accompanying orchestral body in a concerto grosso (“the remainder”).

risoluto (I) - with decision.

ritardando (I) - slowing down.

ritornello (I) - refrain.

roll - rapid, repeated strokes on a percussion instrument.

romance - romantic composition, usually highly melodic and in a slow tempo.

romantic - (1) concerned with the overt expression of emotions; opposite of classic; (2) period in music from roughly 1825-1900.

romanza (I) - romantic composition; see: romance

rondo (I) - form in which a main theme alternates with a series of subsidiary themes.

row - see:  tone row.

rubato (I) - flexible tempo, freely accelerating and decelerating.

ruhig (G) - peaceful.

run - rapid sequence of notes going up or down.

scherzando (I) - playful; section in the manner of a scherzo.

scherzo (I) - fast, lighthearted piece.

schnell (G) - fast.

scordatura (I) - tuning the strings of a string instrument in an unusual manner.

score - (1) the conductor’s printed music that shows what all the instruments are to play; (2) to orchestrate.

sehr (G) - very.

semitone - half step, distance between two adjacent notes.

semplice (I) - simple.

sempre (I) - always.

sequence - repetition of a figure or motive successively higher or lower.

serialism - strict ordering of pitches (or durations, timbres, loudness, etc.), in certain twentieth-century music (a pitch, e.g., may not be used again until all the others have been used first).

sharp - indication to raise a note by a semitone; playing above the proper pitch.

skip - motion from one note to a distant note; opposite of step.

sonata (I) - integrated three-or four-movement instrumental work for a small number of performers.

sonata form - form often used in first movements, comprised of exposition, development, and recapitulation.

sostenuto (I) - sustained.

staccato (I) - short.

step - motion from one note to an adjacent note; opposite of skip.

stopped - sound produced, usually on french horn, by inserting the hand into the bell of the instrument.

stretto (I) - rapid overlapping of a fugue subject.

subject - main melody of a fugue.

subito (I) - suddenly.

suite - series of loosely related movements, often drawn from a larger composition.

symphony - sonata for orchestra.

syncopation - rhythm resulting from playing accented notes on unaccented beats.

tanto (I) - so much.

tempo (I) - speed; pace.

theme - melody that forms the basis of (part of) a composition.

timbre - tone quality.

time signature - numerical indication of the number of beats per measure and the rhythmic value of the note representing one beat.
 
toccata (I) - virtuosic, improvisatory piece.

tonal - having a tonic (main or central pitch or key).

tonality - system of musical logic in which each chord has its own inherent degree of stability and in which one chord—the tonic—has ultimate stability and thus is the goal of motion.

tone poem - programmatic orchestral piece in one movement.

tonic - stable note or chord in tonal music; key of a piece: see “tonality”; the first and main note of a key.

transposition - restating an entire melody or passage in higher or lower key.

tremolo (I) - rapid repeat of a note or chord.

triad - fundamental chord of tonal music (e.g., do-mi-sol) built from major and/or minor thirds.

trill - rapid alternation of a note and another note a step or a half-step away.

trio - (1) piece for three players; (2) middle section of a scherzo or minuet.

triple fugue - fugue with three subjects.

tritone - interval containing three whole steps, e.g., F to B (F-G, G-A, A-B); the interval of greatest dissonance in music.

troppo (I) - too much.

tutti (I) - (1) all; (2) passage with everyone playing.

twelve tone - music that uses all notes of the chromatic scale as potentially equal in importance, usually by means of a tone row.

twelve-tone row - same as “tone row”; a specific ordering of the twelve pitches to be used in a composition; for variety, the row can be transposed as well as played in inversion and in retrograde, both original and transposed.

un (G) - a.

und (G) - and.

unison - simultaneous sounding of the same note or melody by several instruments.

variations - ornamented or otherwise altered repetitions of a theme.

viola da gamba (I) - archaic viola held between the legs.

vivace (I) - lively.

vivacissimo (I) - very lively.

vivo (I) - lively.

whole tone - (1) six-note scale with no semitones; (2) interval, equivalent to two semitones, between some adjacent notes of most scales, such as between the white keys on the piano except between E and F, and between B and C. 

zart (G) - tenderly.

ziemlich (G) - tolerably.

zu (G) - to.