Glossary of Musical Terminology - M

M

• ma: but
• ma non troppo: but not too much
• maestoso: majestically, in a stately fashion
• magico: magically
• maggiore: the major key
• magnifico: magnificent
• main droite (French): right hand (abbreviation: MD or m.d.)
• main gauche (French): left hand (abbreviation: MG or m.g.)
• malinconico: melancholic
• mancando: dying away
• mano destra: right hand (abbreviation: MD or m.d.)
• mano sinistra: left hand (abbreviation: MS or m.s.)
• marcatissimo: with much accentuation
• marcato, marc.: marked; i.e., with accentuation, execute every note as if it were to be accented
• marcia: a march; alla marcia means in the manner of a march
• martellato: hammered out
• marziale: martial, solemn and fierce
• mässig (German): moderately (also: mäßig)
• MD: see mano destra and main droite
• melancolico: melancholic
• melisma: the technique of changing the note (pitch) of a syllable of text while it is being sung
• measure (US): also "bar" the period of a musical piece that encompasses a complete cycle of the time signature, e.g., in 4/4 time, a measure has four quarter note beats
• medesimo tempo: same tempo, despite changes of time signature
• medley: piece composed from parts of existing pieces, usually three, played one after another, sometimes overlapping.
• meno: less; see meno mosso, for example, less mosso
• messa di voce: in singing, a controlled swell, i.e. crescendo then diminuendo, on a long held note, especially in Baroque music and in the bel canto period
• mesto: mournful, sad
• meter (or metre): the pattern of a music piece's rhythm of strong and weak beats
• mezza voce: half voice; i.e., with subdued or moderated volume
• mezzo: half; used in combinations like mezzo forte (mf), meaning moderately loud
• mezzo forte: half loudly; i.e., moderately loudly. See dynamics.
• mezzo piano: half softly; i.e., moderately softly. See dynamics.
• mezzo-soprano: a female singer with a range usually extending from the A below middle C to the F an eleventh above middle C. Mezzo-sopranos generally have a darker vocal tone than sopranos, and their vocal range is between that of a soprano and that of an contralto.
• MG: see main gauche
• misterioso: mysteriously
• mit Dämpfer (Ger): with a mute
• mobile: flexible, changeable
• moderato: moderate; often combined with other terms, usually relating to tempo; for example, allegro moderato
• modere (Fr): moderately
• modesto: modest
• modulation is most commonly the act or process of changing from one key (tonic, or tonal center) to another. This may or may not be accompanied by a change in key signature.
• Moll (German): minor; used in key signatures as, for example, a-Moll (A minor), b-Moll (B♭ minor), or h-Moll (B minor) (see also Dur (major) in this list)
• molto: very
• morendo: dying; i.e., dying away in dynamics, and perhaps also in tempo
• mosso: moved, moving; used with a preceding più or meno (see in this list), for faster or slower respectively
• MS: see mano sinistra
• moto: motion; usually seen as con moto, meaning with motion or quickly
• movement: a section of a musical composition (such as a sonata or concerto)
• munter (German): lively
• Mussete (Fr) a dance or tune of a drone-bass character, originally played by a musette
• muta : Change: either a change of instrument, e.g. flute to piccolo, horn in F to horn in Bb; or a change of tuning, e.g. guitar muta 6 in D. Note: does not mean "mute", for which con sordina or con sordino is used. Muta comes from the Italian verb mutare (to change into something).