M.M.: Originally "Mälzel Metronome" but now metronome marking.

Maggiore: The major mode.

Major: "Greater". A term used to describe certain intervals (seconds, thirds,sixths and sevenths), chords and the Ionian Mode.

Major Chord: a triad composed of a root, a third, and a fifth.

Major Scale: A diatonic scale where the half-steps fall between the third and fourth, and the seventh. This scale is identical to the Ionian Mode.

Major Second: A second, or musical interval covering two adjacent staff positions, spanning two semitones.

Measure: A segment of music bounded by vertical lines used to divide musical works into smaller segments; a unit of time cntaining a number of beats played in a particular tempo by a musician. Also called a bar.

Mannheim School: A Preclassical group of German symphonic composers whose style including extended crecendos (called steamrollers) and melodies that arpeggiated upward, (called rockets).

March: Music for marching, such as in a parade or procession.

Mixolydian Mode: A medieval mode whose scale pattern is that of playing G to G on the white keys of a piano.

Melisma: Sometimes called a vocal run or a roulade, it's a musical technique in which a single syllable of text is sung over multiple notes. Music sung in this style is called melismatic, as opposed to syllabic, where each syllable of text is matched to a single note.

Meter: The number of beats in a measure and how they're normally divided.

Meter Signature: See time signature.

Metronome Marking: The tempo of a composition measured in beats per minute (BPM). The marking is usually found at the beginning of a composition.

Minuet: Music written in triple time for a slow and stately dance.

Mode: A scale pattern consisting of set intervals of whole and half steps. The primary modes are Aeolian, Dorian, Ionian, Locrian, Lydian, Mixolydian, and Phrygian.

Modal: Pertaining to modes.

Modern: Music written in the 20th century, or contemporary music.

Modulation: 1. To change keys, the movement from one tonic center to another.

Monody: A solo or unison Song with accompaniement.

Monothematic: Music based upon a single theme.

Monophony: Music written in a single melodic line, as opposed to polyphony.

Morceau: "Morsel". A musical work or composition.

Mordent: An ornament consisting of a single alternation between a given pitch, and the one immeditatly below or above it--called an inverted mordent.

Motet: A choral composition, usually on a religious text.

Motif: A short musical idea, or melodic theme that runs through a piece.

Movement: A self-contained segment of a larger work. Found in works such as sonatas, symphonies, concertos, etc.

Musicology: The study of music and music history.

Music Drama: Opera, specifically that of Richard Wagner and his successors.

Musique Concrete: Music composed by manipulating aucoustically generated recorded real-world sounds.

Last updated: 8/20/2024

Select Resources: A Dictionary of Muical Terms, edited by J. Stainer and W. A. Barrett
Elson's Music Dictionary, Louis C. Elson
Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary, Richard Cole - Virginia Tech Department of Music and Ed Schwartz - Learning Technologies
Glossary of music terms from Naxos Digital Services Ltd.
Glossary of musical terminology, Aleksandar Tamindžić
Classical musical terms, Classical.dj
Music Dictionary, Dolmetsch Online
The New GROVE Dictionary of Music and Musicians, edited by Stanley Sadie