A Cappella - singing without an instrument accompanying

A Tempo - go back to the original tempo

Accelerando - (accel) steadily get faster

Accent - to emphasise a note

Accidental - alters the pitch of the note it is next to

Accompaniment - music played to support a melody line

Accordion - wind instrument played by expanding and contracting bellows to vibrate reed organs. Has a keyboard for melody notes and buttons for bass notes and chords.

Adagio - a slow tempo; quarter note = 66-76

Agitato - agitated

Alla Breve - cut time; 2/2 time; half note gets the beat

Allargando - (allarg) steadily get louder and slower

Allegretto - a fast tempo; quarter note = 112-128

Allegro - a fast tempo; quarter note = 120-168

Alto - the second highest part in a four-part choir

Alto Saxophone - single-reed woodwind instrument popular in bands

Anacrusis - note(s) before the first full measure; also called pick up note(s)

Andante - a medium tempo; quarter note = 76-108

Animato - animated

Appoggiatura - one kind of ornamentation; also called a grace note

Apprentice - someone who works with a professional to learn their trade

Arco - for stringed instruments - play the passage with the bow

Arpeggio - the notes of a chord played one at a time

Arrangement - changing an original composition to work on different instruments

Ars Antiqua - (ancient art) term used to define French music written from 1160-1320

Ars Nova - (new art) term used to define French music written from 1316-1377

Articulation - how a note is begun, how long it lasts, and how it ends

Ascending - moving from low notes to high notes, without large skips

Assai - means "very" or "rather" when added to a tempo marking such as "adagio assai" very slow

Atonal - a system of writing music not around a center tone

Attack - how a note is begun

Audition - how a musician applies for a position in a band or orchestra

Bagpipe - ancient wind instrument made of a bag of air, several pipes, and a double-reed pipe with finger holes

Ballad - simple song with several verses

Ballade - French poetic love songs

Ballet - tells a story through dance accompanied by music

Band - a group of musicians who perform together using different instruments, but does not usually have string instruments

Banjo - stringed folk instrument which originated in Africa

Bar Line - the lines on the music staff that divide music into measures

Barline - the lines on the music staff that divide music into measures

Baroque - music era approximately 1600-1750AD

Bass - the lowest part in a four-part choir

Bassoon - a large double reed instrument in the woodwind family

Beat - the "heartbeat" of music; the underlying pulse

Binary - a piece of music with two sections

Bongo Drum - small drums with "skin" on one side and open on the other

Bordun - instrumental accompaniment played on the first and fifth pitches of the scale

Bow - made of horsehair and wood; pulled across the strings of an instrument to create a sound

Brio - vigor or spirit; example "con brio" means with spirit

Cadenza - near the end of a solo piece, the soloist improvises and adds ornamentation to show off their ability

Canon - each part in the music starts at a different time and sings or plays exactly what the first part did and the parts overlap

Cantabile - gracefully with expression

Cantata - a poem, or religious verse set to music and performed by voices and instruments

Cantor - the director of the choir and music at a school or church

Carol - song form in which different words are sung to the same melody with a repeated part sung in between

Cello - the second largest instrument in the string family

Chanson - multi-melody song set to courtly or popular poetry

Chant - a sacred song

Choir - a group of singers

Chorale - a hymn usually written for four voices with the melody in the top voice and harmony in the lower voices

Choristers - members of a choir

Chorus - in some songs the part that comes back after each verse; also a large group of singers

Clarinet - a small single reed instrument in the woodwind family

Classical - music era approximately 1750-1820AD

Claves - two small round pieces of wood that are struck together, part of the percussion family

Clavichord - Renaissance keyboard instrument

Clavier - a general term for any keyboard instrument (piano, harpsichord, organ)

Coda - the final measures of a piece of music

Compose - the act of writing music

Composer - someone who writes music

Composition - a piece of music

Con - with

Concerto - a composition written to show off a specific instrument with the orchestra playing the accompaniment

Concerto Grosso - music written for a small group of solo instruments with a large ensemble playing the accompaniment

Conductor - the person who leads a music group

Consort - group of two to eight instrument players

Cornet - brass instrument, the direct predecessor of the trumpet

Countermelody - a melodic line that supports the main melody

Counterpoint - how melodies are woven together in a piece of music

Crescendo - (cresc) gradually get louder

Cymbal - thin round brass plate, either struck together, or struck with a mallet, part of the percussion family

Da Capo - (D.C.) go back to the beginning, literally means "from the top"

Dal Segno - (D.S.) go back to the sign, literally means "from the sign"

Dampen - muffle the sound, usually with a mute

Decrescendo - (decresc) gradually get quieter

Descant - type of harmony which came from organum

Descending - moving from high notes to low notes, without large skips

Didjeridu - (Didgeridoo) wood or bamboo instrument from Northern Australia, played by blowing and singing into it at the same time

Diminuendo - (dim) gradually get quieter

Divisi - tells a group of players to play different parts when two parts are written on the same staff

Djembe - African drum shaped similar to a mushroom

Dogfight - section of music usually in marches and piano rags where the high instruments play a phrase followed by the low instruments

Dolce - sweetly

Dolcissimo - more sweetly than dolce

Double Bar - two thin parallel lines that signify the end of one section of music and the beginning of another or a thin and a thick parallel lines that signifies the end of the composition

Double Bass - a large stringed instrument

Double Flat - accidental symbol that means to lower a note by two half steps

Double Reed - two pieces of cane that are attached and when blown on make a "quacking" sound, used to play a double reed instrument such as the oboe

Double Sharp - accidental symbol that means to raise a note by two half steps

Double Stop - two notes played at the same time using two different strings on a stringed instrument

Double Tonguing - a way to tongue quickly on an instrument

Down-bow - indicates a bowed string instrument player should play a note by moving the bow from the frog toward the tip

Downbeat - the first beat of a measure

Drone - a sustained bass note common during in Medieval Era music

Drum - a round percussion instrument originally with animal skin stretched over the top and struck with hands or sticks

Drum And Bugle Corps - a group of percussion and brass instrument players

Duet - a composition written for two players

Dulcimer - stringed instrument shaped like a trapezoid

Dynamics - how loud or quiet music is played

Détaché - in a detatched manner

Early Music - sometimes used to refer to music written during the Medieval and Renaissance Eras

Electric Guitar - shapped similarly to the acoustic guitar, but has a solid body with no soundbox and requires an amplifier to increase the sound

Elegy - a funeral song

Energico - with energy

English Horn - a double reed instrument in the woodwind family slightly larger than an oboe

Ensemble - a group of musicians who perform together, can be used for a band, orchestra, quartet, any "group"

Espressivo - expressively

Ethnomusicology - the study of cultural or folk music

Etude - a composition written so a musician can work on technicality and musicality

Euphonium - a brass instrument shaped like a small tuba and pitched higher than a tuba

Expression Marks - refers to the combination of articulation, dynamics, and tempo to create "expression" in a performance

Falsetto - a technique male singers use to reach notes higher than they usually sing

Fanfare - short composition for brass instruments and timpani

Fantasia - during the Baroque Era it introduced a fugue; during the Romantic Era it is a broad composition with no specific form, the composer just uses their imagination

Fermata - symbol above a note or rest which means to hold the note or rest as long as the conductor chooses

Fine - after a section repeats "fine" marks the end of the piece

Flat - accidental symbol that means to lower a note by one half step

Flute - a woodwind instrument made out of metal today held horizontally and played by blowing across a hole

Flutter-tonguing - technique of rolling an "r" sound while playing an instrument, usually a flute

Folk Music - cultural music learned by repetition and memorization not written down

Form - the structure of music

Forte - (f) loud

Fortepiano - an early version of the piano

Fortissimo - (ff) very loud

Forza - forcefully

French Horn - round brass instrument

Frog - the lower part of a stringed instruments bow, close to where it is held

Frottola - secular song, direct predecessor of the madrigal

Fugue - a musical form in which the melody is introduced in one part and then other parts enter with the same melody, instrumental, or vocal

Galliard - lively dance usually following a pavan

Glissando - playing a scale up or down very quickly

Glockenspiel - a percussion instrument that has metal bars on a wooden box; the bars are struck with a mallet

Gong - a round metal percussion instrument suspended in the air and struck with a padded mallet

Grace Note - a quick note added to a melody for ornamentation

Grand Pause - also called a general pause; used to create a silent pause in music for as long as a solo performer or conductor chooses

Grand Piano - a large keyboard instrument in which the strings run horizontally; pushing a key causes a hammer to strike a string, thus causing a note

Grandioso - in a majestic or grand style

Grave - very slow tempo, or perform in a solemn manner

Grazioso - graceful, smooth, or elegant

Guiro - a percussion instrument played by scraping a wooden stick across wooden grooves in the instrument

Guitar - a stringed instrument which has six strings and is played by strumming or plucking the strings

Hand Bell - a percussion instrument; each bell sounds a different note and a group of musicians are required to play them

Harmony - chords that support the main melody

Harp - a stringed instrument with vertical strings which are plucked to make sound

Harpsichord - a keyboard instrument popular during the Rennaisance and Baroque Eras

Hi-hat - a pair of cymbals played with a pedal or drum stick and are usually part of a drum set

Homophony - two or more parts moving together on different notes but with the same rhythm

Horn - short for French Horn; can also be used to refer to any instrument

Hornpipe - an English dance popular during the Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical Eras

Hymn - religious songs usually sung during a church service

Impressionism - a compositional style which focuses on musical color

Impromptu - a short piano composition from the Romantic Era that has a free style

Improvise - music created without preparation and not written down

Interlude - a piece of music performed between larger works

Interval - the space between two pitches or notes

Introduction - a short movement before a large composition

Jazz - a 20th century style of music characterized by improvisation, syncopated rhythms, and specific harmonies

Jig - an energetic dance

Kapellmeister - the director of music in a town or noble's court

Kettledrum - a bowl-shaped drum with a definite pitch; timpani are kettledrums

Key Signature - the sharp or flat signs at the beginning of a piece of music

Keyboard - the black and white keys on a keyboard instrument used to play the instrument

Keyboard Instrument - an instrument with a keyboard such as a piano, organ, and harpsichord

L'istesso Tempo - the same tempo

Lament - a sad song written to remember the dead

Langsam - a slow tempo similar to lento

Larghetto - a slow tempo; quarter note = 60-66

Larghissimo - a very slow tempo; quarter note = 40 or less

Largo - a slow tempo; quarter note = 40-60

Ledger Lines - the lines added to a note that is above or below the five-line staff

Legatissimo - a smooth and connected style

Legato - a smooth graceful and connected style

Leggiero - a light delicate style

Leitmotif - a recurring theme that represents a person, emotion, or idea

Lentissimo - a very slow tempo; quarter note = 40

Lento - slow

Libretto - the printed words that go with a piece of music

Lied - song written for a singer with accompaniment, usually piano

Lieder - songs written for a singer with accompaniment, usually piano

Ligature - the metal piece used to hold a reed on a clarinet or saxophone mouthpiece

Loco - cancels 8va; instruction to perform a passage as usual

Lute - stringed instrument similar to the guitar

Lute Song - song written for a singer with lute accompaniment

M.m. - Metronome Marking, a tempo marking sometimes found at the beginning of a piece of music

Ma - but

Madrigal - secular songs for voice, generally not accompanied

Madrigale Spirituale - religious vocal songs for voice generally not accompanied

Maestoso - in a majestic style

Maestro - a master musician, a term of respect

Mallet - used by a percussion player to strike an instrument such as the marimba, xylophone, and orchestra bells

Mandolin - Renaissance string instrument similar to the lute; the strings are plucked, not bowed

Manuscript - music written on paper

Maracas - a percussion instrument; usually made out of wood and filled with dried seeds and shaken when played

Marcato - in a marked or stressed style

March - a song usually written in 2/4, 6/8, or 4/4 time and originally played during parades or processions

Marching Band - a group of musicians who perform together using different instruments while marching; usually represents an organization such as a high school or college

Marimba - a percussion instrument; a large wooden instrument comprised of bars and pipes; the bars are struck by a mallet to create sound

Mass - part of the Roman Catholic Church service, sung

Measure - the space between bar lines in music which contain a specific number of beats

Medieval Era - music era approximately 476-1430AD

Medley - a composition containing melodies from several different songs

Melody - the part of a song that gets stuck in your head

Meno - less

Meno Mosso - less motion; slower

Metallophone - a percussion instrument; an instrument with metal bars and pipes or sound boxes; the bars are struck by a mallet to create a sound

Meter - how beats are organized in music

Mezzo - medium

Mezzo Forte - (mf) moderately loud, not as loud as forte

Mezzo Piano - (mp) moderately soft, not as soft as piano

Mezzo Soprano - a female vocal range between the soprano and alto ranges

Middle C - the note in between the bass and treble clefs on the grand staff

Midi - Musical Instrument Digital Interface; allows computers and other electronic equipment to create music and communicate with each other

Minimalism - a compositional style which features little variation of short repeated melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic patterns

Minstrel - a court musician during the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque Eras

Minuet - a dance from the Classical Era in a slow triple meter

Misterioso - in a mysterious style

Moderato - a moderate tempo; quarter note = 108-120

Modulate - when music changes from one key to a different key

Moll - minor

Molto - much

Monophonic - music with only one voice or part

Monotone - one tone, sound, or pitch

Mosso - motion

Motet - polyphonic vocal style originally secular or religious, but during the Renaissance became exclusively religious

Motif - a short easily recognized musical theme

Mouthpiece - part of a wind instrument where the player places his/her mouth

Movement - a self-contained section of a long composition like a symphony

Multiphonics - two or more tones played simultaneously on an instrument that was created to only play one tone at a time, like a flute

Multiple Stopping - playing two or more notes at the same time on a stringed instrument like a violin

Musical - Musical Theater

Musical Saw - a percussion instrument; looks very similar to a hand saw, but sometimes without the teeth; struck or bowed to create sound

Musician - a person who performs, conducts, or composes music

Musicology - the study of music; including music, instruments, people of influence, and the societies that created the music

Mute - used to soften the sound of instruments like the trumpet

National Anthem - songs that symbolize a country; usually in the style of an anthem, fanfare, march, or hymn

Nationalism - a movement during the 19th century when composers put rhythms, melodies, harmonies, and other qualities from the music of their homeland into their new compositions

Natural - accidental symbol that means the play the actual note, not the sharp or flat of the note

Neoclassicism - a compositional style in which composers imitated music from the Classical Era

Neoromanticism - a compositional style in which composers imitated music from the Romantic Era

Niente - perform a passage very quietly with almost no sound

Nobile - in a noble or grand style

Nocturne - originally a composition that was played at night outside; later composers used it in the name of pieces that had to do with night time in some way

Non - not

Non Troppo - not too much

Notation - the visual symbols of music

Note - the symbol in music that represents pitch and duration

Note Value - the duration of a note

Notehead - the round part of a note

Oboe - a small double reed instrument in the woodwind family

Octet - music written for eight instruments

Ode - composition written for a special event usually about an event, object, or person

Opera - a drama set to music and mostly sung, includes costumes, scenery, and acting

Opera Buffa - Italian comic opera

Opera Seria - Italian opera that was heroic or tragic

Operetta - less serious form of opera with more spoken dialog; created during the 19th century; similar to musicals of the 20th century

Opus - work; a musical composition numbered by the publisher in chronological order

Oral Tradition - music passed from person to person orally, not written down

Oratorio - a musical composition performed by vocal soloists and a chorus accompanied by an orchestra that does not have costumes, scenery, or acting

Orchestra - a group of musicians who perform together using different instruments, includes string instruments

Orchestra Bells - a percussion instrument; a small metal instrument comprised of bars and a sound box; the bars are struck by a mallet to create sound

Organ - a keyboard instrument

Organ Music - songs written for the organ alone

Organology - The science of musical instruments; organologists study how instruments produce sound, and the classification and development of instruments in history and cultures

Organum - the first type of polyphonic (multi-part) music

Ornamentation - short decorative notes added to make a melody more interesting

Ostinato - a short repeated pattern

Overture - a piece of music written to introduce themes that will be heard in a following composition such as an opera or oratorio

Passion - a musical setting of the life and death of Christ as it is written in one of the Gospels.

Pavan - slow, dignified court dance usually the first in a song set

Pianoforte - (pf) a dynamic mark which means to begin a note quietly and immediately become loud

Plainsong - music sung with free rhythm in which everyone sings the same notes

Polyphonic - music with more than one melody performed at the same time

Prelude - a short piece of music which introduces the next song to be performed

Program Symphony - a piece written in several parts which is associated with a story or picture

Repertoire - the pieces of music a person or group knows how to play

Royalties - the money an artist receives for the sale and performance of their work

Secular - popular, non-religious, music

Serialism - a compositional style in which the composer puts elements such as rhythm, dynamics, pitch, and tone color in a fixed order

Solo - played by one person

Sonata - a piece of music with several parts written for a single player or a group of players

Soprano - the highest voice in a choir

Suite - a set of dances, instrumental

Symphonic Poem - a piece written in one part for orchestra which tries to recreate a poetic idea, scene, or mood

Symphony - a large composition for orchestra

Tempo - how fast or slow music is played

Ternary - a piece of music with three sections

Toccata - written for a performer to show off on a keyboard instrument

Tonal - a system of writing music around a center tone

Unison - two or more voices or instruments singing or playing the same notes

Virtuoso - a performer who is an expert at their instrument