Multilingual Music Glossary
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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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Some random terms
- penny whistle A folk wind instrument similar to the recorder, but usually made of tin. It generally has six finger holes, and is prominent in British and Irish folk music.
- fortepiano A dynamic marking (fp) directing the performer to attack the written note at the dynamic level of forte (loud) followed by an immediate decrease in volume to piano (soft).
- theme group Several themes in the same key that function as a unit within a section of a form, particularly in sonata-allegro form.
- forefall An ascending appoggiatura.
- largamente With a broad, full sound.
- quarter note A note having the time duration of one fourth of a whole note.
- duplet A group of two notes played in the time usually taken to play three.
- meno “Less”.
- assai Much, very much.
- inconsolato Disconsolate, mournful.
- heavy metal Rock style that gained popularity in the 1970s, characterized by simple, repetitive ideas and loud, distorted instrumental solos.
- heterophony Texture in which two or more voices (or parts) elaborate the same melody simultaneously, often the result of improvisation.
- metrical modulation The shifting from one meter to another in the middle of a composition.
- moresca An exotic Renaissance dance simulating a battle between the Moors and the Christians.
- dolce Sweet, soft, with tender emotion.