This glossary explains the music words a child brings home from lessons, in one or two plain sentences each. The words are in A to Z order. Many are Italian, because Italian musicians were among the first to write such directions into their music.
A to C
Accent. A mark that tells the player to give one note extra force.
Adagio. Slow.
Allegro. Fast and bright.
Andante. At a walking pace.
Arpeggio. The notes of a chord played one after another, up or down.
Bar. One of the small sections the staff is divided into. Also called a measure.
Bass clef. The sign for low notes. The left hand of the piano reads it most of the time.
Beat. The steady pulse of the music. It is what a foot taps.
Chord. Three or more notes played together.
Clef. The sign at the start of the staff that tells which notes the lines stand for.
Coda. An ending section added to a piece.
Concerto. A piece for one solo player and an orchestra.
Crescendo. Grow louder, bit by bit.
D to L
Da capo. Go back to the beginning. It is often written D.C.
Diminuendo. Grow softer, bit by bit. Decrescendo means the same.
Dynamics. How loud or soft the music is.
Etude. A piece written to practice one skill. Also called a study.
Fermata. A sign shaped like an arc over a dot. Hold the note longer than its value.
Flat. A sign that lowers a note by a half step.
Forte. Loud.
Harmony. The notes that sound along with the tune.
Interval. The distance between two notes.
Key. The scale a piece is built on. A piece in G major uses the notes of the G major scale.
Key signature. The sharps or flats written after the clef. They apply to the whole piece.
Legato. Smooth and joined.
M to R
Major. One of the two main kinds of scale and chord. Many listeners hear it as bright.
Melody. The tune.
Metronome. A device that clicks a steady beat at a chosen speed.
Minor. The other main kind of scale and chord. Many listeners hear it as dark.
Movement. One complete part of a longer piece.
Natural. A sign that cancels a sharp or a flat.
Octave. The distance from one note to the next note with the same letter name.
Opus. A number given to a composer’s work, often in the order the works were published.
Piano. Soft. It is also the short name of the instrument.
Pitch. How high or low a note is.
Presto. Faster than allegro.
Repeat sign. Two dots beside a double bar line. Play the section again.
Rest. A sign for silence that lasts a set number of beats.
Rhythm. The pattern of long and short sounds.
Ritardando. Slow down, bit by bit. It is often written rit.
S to Z
Scale. A set of notes played in order, step by step.
Sharp. A sign that raises a note by a half step.
Slur. A curved line over notes of different pitch. Play them smooth and joined.
Sonata. A piece in several movements for one or two instruments.
Staccato. Short and detached. It is shown by a dot above or below the note.
Staff. The five lines that music is written on.
Symphony. A long piece for orchestra, usually in four movements.
Tempo. The speed of the beat.
Tie. A curved line joining two notes of the same pitch. Hold the note for the length of both.
Time signature. The two numbers at the start of a piece. The top one tells how many beats are in each bar.
Treble clef. The sign for high notes. The right hand of the piano reads it most of the time.
Triad. A chord of three notes.
Tuning. Setting an instrument so that its notes are at the right pitch.
Unison. Everyone plays or sings the same note or the same tune.
Vibrato. A small, quick wobble in pitch that warms the sound of a voice or a string instrument.
Where to read more
Each group of words has its own page.
- Speed: tempo words in music
- Volume: dynamics in music
- Note lengths: note values explained
- Beats and bars: time signatures explained
- Note names: treble clef and bass clef note names
- Kinds of pieces: symphony, concerto, and sonata explained
- Numbers after a title: what opus, K, and BWV numbers mean
Print and play
The tempo and dynamics word cards turn sixteen of these words into a game. For the ideas behind the words, read how to read music: the basics for parents and music theory for parents.
More from this guide
This article is part of Music theory for parents: what your child is learning and how to help.
Dynamics in music explained for kids: from piano to forte
Dynamics in music explained for parents and kids: what p, f, mp, mf, pp, and ff mean, how crescendo works, pieces that show each one, and games to play.
How to read music: the basics for parents in ten minutes
How to read sheet music, explained for parents in ten minutes: the staff, the clefs, note names, note lengths, the time signature, and the marks around the notes.
Intervals explained for kids, with songs to remember each one
Musical intervals explained in plain words: how to count the distance between two notes, the name of each interval, and a familiar song to remember each one.
Key signatures explained for parents and kids
Key signatures explained in plain words: what the sharps and flats at the start of the music mean, how to name the key, and a chart of the first keys.
Major and minor scales explained for kids and parents
Major and minor scales explained in plain words: the pattern of steps in each, why they sound different, pieces in each kind, and games to hear the difference.
Note values explained for parents and kids: whole, half, quarter, and eighth notes
Note values explained in plain words: how long whole, half, quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes last, how rests and dots work, and clapping games to try.
Use it with your kids
Print a listening page, a practice chart, or a composer fact sheet. Or try a tool, such as the composer timeline or the piece picker.