Specialising in
ADULT MUSIC EDUCATION
Small group classes
Ainslie Arts Centre & Online
GLOSSARY OF MUSICAL TERMS:
J - N
Jig
A kind of country dance in triple time and a quick tempo.
Just intonation
Precisely to true pitch; opposed to tempered intonation.
Key
The series of tones forming any given major or minor scale, considered with reference to their harmonic relations, particularly the relation of the other tones to the tonic or keynote.
Keynote
Key signature
The sharps or flats at the head of the staff.
Klagend
Mournfully, plaintively.
Klavier
A keyboard.
Kräftig
Forceful, vigorous, energetic.
Lamento
A lament, complaint.
Ländler
A slow waltz, in 3/4 or 3/8 time.
Langsam
Slow.
Largo
Large, broad; slow and stately with breadth of style.
Lebhaft
Lively, animated.
Legato
Bound, slurred; a direction to perform the passage in a smooth and connected manner, with no break between the tones.
Legatissimo
Very smoothly and evenly. On the piano, an indication that each finger is to hold its note as long as possible.
Leggiero
Lightly.
Leitmotiv
Leading motive; any striking musical motive characterising or accompanying a character, particular idea, emotion, or situation.
Lenezza, con
Faintly, gently, quietly.
Liecht
Light, brisk; easy, facile.
Lentamente
Slowly.
Lento
Slow; calls for a tempo between andante and largo.
Liberamente
Freely, boldly.
Lieblich
Lovely, sweet, charming.
L'istesso
The same.
Loco
Place; following 8va, it means to perform the notes as written.
Locrian mode
The ecclesiastical mode that correspones to the scale from B to B o the white keys of the piano; the order of intervals is: semitone, tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone.
Lointain
Distant; faint sounding.
Lunga
Long; sustained, prolonged.
Luttuoso
Mournful, doleful, plaintive.
Lydian mode
The church mode that correspones to the scale from F to F o the white keys of the piano; the order of intervals is: tone, tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, semitone.
Mächtig
Powerful, mighty.
Maestoso
Majestic, dignified.
Major scale
A scale; the order of intervals is: tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone.
Mancando
Decreasing in loudness, dying away.
Marcato
With distinctness and emphasis.
Marcatissimo
With very marked emphasis.
Mässig
Measured; moderate.
Mazurka
A Polish national dance in triple time and modrate tempo with a variable accent on the third beat.
Mediant
The third degree of the major or minor scale.
Melodic
1. In the style of a melody; progressing by simgle tones. 2. Vocal, singable, tuneful.
Melodic minor scale
A minor scale that eliminates the interval of an augmented second between the sixth and seventh degrees of the harmonic minor scale, thereby providing a smoother progression. When ascending, the sixth and seventh degrees are raised; when descending, these notes are unaltered.
Melody
The ordered and rational progression of single tones; contrasted with harmony.
Meno
Less; not so.
Mesto
Pensive, sad, melancholy.
Mesure
Measure, moderate.
Meter, Metre
The grouping of beats.
Minim
A half note.
Minuet
An early French dance form, in triple time.
Misterioso
In a style suggestive of mystery, or of hidden meaning.
Mixolydian mode
The mode that corresponds to the progression from G to G on the white keys of the piano; the order of intervals is: tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, semitone, tone.
Mode
1. A generic term applied to ancient Greek melodi progressions and to church scales established in the Middle Ages and codified in the system of the Gregorian chant. 2. The distinction between a major key and minor key. 3. Any scalar pattern of intervals, either traditional to a culture or invented.
Moderato
Moderate; at a moderate tempo or rate of speed.
Modulate
To pass from one key or mode to another.
Molto
Very, much.
Morbido
Soft, tender.
Morendo
Dying away.
Mormoroso
Murmuring; in a very gentle, subdued tone.
Mosso
Moved.
Motive
A short phrase or figure used in development, imitation or repetition.
Moto
Motion, speed, movement.
Moto, con
With motion; with an animated and energetic movement.
Movement
1. Tempo. 2. A principal division or section of a composition.
Nach
After; according to.
Nachtmusik
Night music; a serenade.
Nach und nach
Little by little, gradually.
Natural minor scale
Any minor scale withour chromatic alterations and therefore lacking the leading note; the order of intervals is: tone, semitone, tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone.
Non
Not.
Leading note
The seventh degree of the major scale.
Ninth
The interval of an octave plus a major or minor second.
Nocturne
A piece of a dreamily romantic or sentimental character, without fixed form.