Music Terminology List A to Z Cheatsheet
Cheatsheet of common and more obscure music terminology terms and definitions. Understanding music terms makes it easier to collaborate with other musicians – it really does help if you’re all singing and playing from the same hymn sheet!
- ADDucation’s glossary of music terminology compiled by Robert Junker was last updated 25 Sep 2024.
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| Music Terms | Music Terminology Terms Explained |
|---|---|
| Accent | A specific note is emphasized above other non-accented notes. |
| Accidental | Accidentals indicate notes that are outside a specific key signature so they exist outside of the key. |
| Adagio | Adagio (Italian for “at ease”) indicates a slow pace or tempo (see other pace examples in Tempo). Allegro and Presto are the opposite music terminology. |
| Allegro | Allegro (Italian for “cheerful”) is a fast, upbeat music tempo. Adagio is the opposite music terminology. |
| Ballet | A ballet is a dance performance which have been popular with audiences worldwide since the beginning of the 18th Century. |
| Bel Canto | Bel Canto is a lyrical style of operatic singing using a rich, full, broad tone and smooth phrasing, especially popular in Italian operas between 1810 to 1845. Opera composers who used Bel Canto include Donizetti, Bellini, Rossini and Richard Tauber (1891-1948) known as the King of Belcanto. |
| Crescendo | Crescendo (Italian for “growing”) means to swell in volume. The opposite music terminology is decrescendo. |
| Forte | Forte is used to describe a louder dynamic (see Dynamics above). Forte is louder than mezzo-forte but quieter than fortissimo. |
| Fugue | A fugue is a composition with a subject that repeats after fourths or fifths. The melody is taken up by other instruments or soloists in a different key. There are specific types of fugues:
|
| Legato | In musical notation legato means each musical note is sung or played with smooth transitions between successive tones. |
| Leggero | Leggero (Italian for “light”) is a character and mood indicator with a tempo connatation, in this case to play in a light-hearted manner at a quicker pace. Here’s a few other mood and pacing examples:
|
| Interval | Distance between two tones (an octave is eight notes). Example intervals:
|
| Octave | An octave is a progression of eight notes on a musical scale. For example on a keyboard, starting with A, the progression is: A, B, C, D, E, F, G and ending with A. The start and end notes of the progression are always the same but an octave higher or lower. |
| Opera | An opera is a dramatic stage work, in which the performers sing lyrics supported by an orchestra. |
| Operetta | An operetta is often more cheerful, lively and funny than an opera. It is the predecessor of the musical. |
| Opus | Numbered work of a composer used to show when the piece was written. E.g. for Mozart there is a separate directory created in 1862 by Ludwig Köchel (the so-called Köchel-directory). |
| Overture | An overture is a musical prelude (opening) to an opera or operetta. |
| Pastorale | A pastorale is a piece of music or small stageplay that evokes a pastoral atmosphere. |
| Phrase | In music terminology a phrase is a significant musical thought ending with a cadence – a musical punctuation. |
| Pianissimo | In music terminology pianissimo is a dynamic instruction (see dynamics for more other dynamic instructions) that instructs musicians to play very softly or quieter. The dynamic range for a pianissimo passage should be quieter than piano, but louder than pianississimo. |
| Pizzicato | Pizzicato (Italian for “plucked”) instructs musicians playing string instruments to pluck instead of using a bow. |
| Presto | Presto (Italian for “fast”) is the fastest musical tempo, occasionally increased to prestissimo. |
| Rondo | A rondo is a piece of music with one main repeating theme interspersed with other musical ideas. |
| Scherzo | A scherzo (Italian for “joke”) is a short playful composition, sometimes a movement from a sonata or symphony. |
| Sequence | Repetition of a musical idea at a different tone. Pejoratively termed a cobbler’s patch. |
| Serenade | A light, playful piece or love song usually played at night or outdoors. E.g. Eine kleine Nachtmusik by Mozart. |
| Sonata | Instrumental piece for solo instruments (usually piano and violin). Its counterpart is the cantata (“sung”). |
| Symphony | A large-scale instrumental work usually in 4 movements, each played at a different pace. Haydn was the first to “design” the symphony, but Beethoven perfected it with his famous nine. Movements in a typical symphony follow this pattern:
|
| String Quartet | A string quartet (as the name suggests) always comprises four string instruments, namely two violins, a viola and a cello. |
| Suite | A concert set consisting of several pieces which may include dances or instrumental music. |
| Tempi | Sets the pace at which a piece of music is to be played. E.g. Presto = very quickly, Vivace = lively, Allegro = fast, Andante = sedately, Adagio = slow. |
| Tones | Music distinguishes between the 8 basic tones c, d, e, f, g, a, h, c, and the 10 semitones, which are either a half note higher (cis, dis, fis, gis, ais) or a half tone lower (the, it, b tot, as,) than the basic notes. |
| Twelve-Tone Music | As the name implies – the arrangement of 12 twelve notes (c, cis, d, dis, e, f, g, g#, a, b, h) into a tone row as the composition basis. A harsh harmony-less sound which isn’t always easy to appreciate. |
| Verismo | Verismo means truth or realism and was a style of Italian opera in the period from 1890 to 1920. Typical verismo operas are The Bajazoo by Leoncavallo and Cavalleria Rusticana by Mascagni. |
See also: Famous Musicals… | Classical Music…
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