m Middle finger of the right hand See p,i,m,a in Left & Right Hand Fingerings
Ma (Italian) but
Macchina (Italian) machine, mechanism
Machine head a system of worm gears used to control the tension of the strings on string instruments
Mächtig (German) mighty, powerful
Maestà (Italian) majesty, dignity
Maestade (Italian) majesty, dignity
Maestoso (Italian) dignified, majestic, noble
Maestro (Italian) conductor, master, teacher
Maestro concertatore (Italian) conductor
Magadis harp with 20 strings in ancient Greece
Maggiolata (Italian) a May song, a Spring song
Maggiore (Italian) major
Maggot a fancy
Magna (Italian) great
Magno (Italian) great
Maidou Burl An alternative wood for the back and sides of a classical guitar. See Wood Choices for Back & Sides See Alternative Wood Choices for Back & Sides See Anatomy of a Classical Guitar
Main (French) hand
Mains (French) hands
Mainstream twentieth-century music; music that is currently popular
Mais (French) but
Maître (French) master
Mahogany –African & Honduran A wood that used to be exported mainly from Honduras, but now comes more often from Brazil. African Mahogany is a little heavier and finer textured than Honduran Mahogany. Mahogany is fine for guitars due to its relative low cost, ease of working, and stability. Colors range from light pink to medium brown to reddish brown. See Wood Choices for Back & Sides See Alternative Wood Choices for Back & Sides See Anatomy of a Classical Guitar
Majestätisch (German) majestic, majestically
Majestueuse (French) majestic
Majestueusement (French) majestically
Majestueux (French) majestic
Majeur (French) major
Major Scale See Table of Key Signatures See Table of Major & Melodic minor Scales See Musical Scales
Mal (German) occasion, time
Malagueña a flamenco style
Malinconia (Italian) melancholy
Malinconico (Italian) melancholy
Malizia (Italian) malice
Mambo up tempo Afro-Cuban musical style that evolved in the 1940s and 50s
Mancando (Italian) dying away
Mancante (Italian) dying away
Mancanza (Italian) lack
Mandobass a rare bass mandolin
Mandoloncello a large mandolin, tuned an octave below a mandolin, also known as an octave mandolin
Mandola a large mandolin, bearing six to eight courses of strings, in use during the Renaissance; a large mandolin a fifth below a standard mandolin
Mandore a large mandolin, bearing six to eight courses of strings, in use during the Renaissance; a large mandolin a fifth below a standard mandolin
Mandolin (Italian) a lute-shaped instrument with four to six pairs of strings, a fretted fingerboard, played with a plectrum
Mandoline (Italian) a lute-shaped instrument with four to six pairs of strings, a fretted fingerboard, played with a plectrum
Mandoliny homemade lutes from Madagascar
Mandora Swedish string instrument, similar to a mandolin
Mani (Italian) hands
Manica (Italian) shift on a fingerboard
Manico (Italian) fingerboard
Manieren (German) graces, ornaments
Männer (German) men
Mannerism aspects of Renaissance and Baroque music where the music mirrors textual detail
Mannheim crescendo great crescendos and diminuendos that ranged from pianissimo to fortissimo
Mannheim rocket rapid upward arpeggio over a large range, combined with a crescendo
Mannheim roll scale passages in measured tremolo, combined with a crescendo
Mano (Italian) hand Mani (Italian) hands
Manuscript a document bearing the notation of a composition, normally with the composer's handwritten notation of a composition
Marcando (Italian) marking
Marcato (Italian) accented, marked
March instrumental music with a repeated and regular rhythm such as might appropriately accompany a marching group
Marcha (Spanish) march
Marche (German) march
Märchen (German) tale
Marcia (Italian) march
Mariachi traditional Mexican ensemble consisting of, bass guitar, guitar trumpets, and violins
Markiert (German) accented, emphasized, marked
Markig (German) vigorous
Marqué (French) accented, emphasized, marked
Marovany a box-shaped zither from Madagascar with strings on both sides
Marrabenta popular roots-based urban rhythm from Mozambique
Marsch (German) march
Marteau (French) hammer
Martelé (French) hammered
Martellato (Italian) hammered, strongly marked
Marzas (Spanish) martial songs
Marziale (Italian) in march style
Mascarade (French) a masked ball
Masonic music music used in connection with the functions of the freemasons
Masur Birch An alternative wood for the back and sides of a classical guitar. See Wood Choices for Back & Sides See Alternative Wood Choices for Back & Sides See Anatomy of a Classical Guitar
Matteo Carcassi (1792 -1853) See Classical Guitarists and Composers
Mattinata (Italian) a morning song
Matuqin a bowed lute adorned with a horse head at the top of the instrument from China and Mongolia
Mauresco (Italian) Moorish
Mauresque (French) Moorish
Mauro Giuliani (1781- 1829) See Classical Guitarists and Composers
Mazurka a moderately fast, triple-time, traditional dance from Poland originally
Measure bar
Medesimo (Italian) same
Mediant the third degree of the scale
Medieval pertaining to the Middle Ages
Medley potpourri of melodies taken from other compositions and strung together
Mehr (German) more, many
Mehrere (German) several
Melic (Greek) of or pertaining to song; lyric; tuneful
Melic composition a musical composition relating to song
Melodic minor Scales see Table of Major & Melodic minor Scales See Musical Scales
Mélodie (French) melody
Melodious music with a pleasing melody
Melody the horizontal dimension in music, where the vertical dimension arises from the harmony
Même (French) same
Men (Italian) less
Meno (Italian) less
Meno mosso (Italian) less movement, slower
Menuett (German) minuet
Menuetto
(Italian) minuet
Messing (German) brass
Mesto (Italian) mournful, sad
Mestoso (Italian) mournful, sad
Mestizia (Italian) sadness
Mesure (French) beat, measure, time
Metà (Italian) half
Meter the organization of music or verse into units of accented and unaccented beats
Metre the organization of music or verse into units of accented and unaccented beats
Metric modulation the method of changing tempos precisely by making some note value in the first tempo equal to a different note value in the second tempo
Metronome electronic or mechanical device for establishing the tempo of a piece of music
Metronome mark An indication of the speed at which a piece is to be played. see metronome mark in Phrasing Symbols
Mettere (Italian) to put
Mettre (French) to put
Mettez (French) put
Mezza (Italian) half
Mezzo (Italian) medium
Mezzo forte (Italian) halfway between loud and soft see dynamic symbols in Phrasing Symbols
Mezzo piano (Italian) halfway between loud and soft see dynamic symbols in Phrasing Symbols
mf (Italian) mezzo forte - halfway between soft and loud
mi contra fa (Italian) tritone
Microtones intervals smaller than a half step
Microtonal music music which makes use of intervals smaller than a half step
Middle ages period from about 500 AD until about 1430 AD
Middle C See clef in Staff, Barline, & Clef
MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface. MIDI is a specification for the types of control signals that can be sent from one electronic music device to another
Mi gaung Burmese three stringed instrument in the shape of a crocodile
Miguel Llobet (1878-1938) See Classical Guitarists and Composers
Milieu (French) middle
Militaire (French) military
Militär military
Militare (Italian) military
Military band a regimental band made up of woodwind, brass and percussion
Milk jug percussion instrument used by Hungarian Gypsy musicians
Milonga Argentine country dance
Minaccevole (Italian) menacing
Minaccevolmente (Italian) menacingly
Minacciando (Italian) in a menacing manner
Minder (German) less
Mineur (French) minor
Minim half note see Note Values
Minim rest a half rest
Minima bianca (Italian) half note see Note Values
Minne (German) love
Minor Melodic Scale (Ascending) See Musical Scales
Minor Melodic Scale (Descending) See Musical Scales
Minor Scale having the interval of a minor third between the first and third degrees of the scale See Table of Key Signatures See Table of Major & Melodic minor Scales
Minor Scale (Harmonic) See Musical Scales
Minor Scale (Natural) See Musical Scales
Minore (Italian) minor
Minstrel entertainer who covered a wide range of activities from light farce to the performance of serious song
Minuet a graceful French dance in simple triple time often appearing as a section of extended works
Minuet and trio minuet - trio - minuet form in a moderate triple meter that is often the third movement of the Classical sonata cycle
Minuetto (Italian) minuet
Mirror term used to describe a part appearing upside down, which if set directly below the original part it would appear like the other reflected in a mirror lying between the two lines
Mise (French) putting
Mistero (Italian) mystery
Misterio (Italian) mystery
Misterioso (Italian) mysteriously
Mistico (Italian) mystic
Misura (Italian) measure, bar; also strict time
Misurato (Italian) measured; in strict time
Mit (German) with
Mitleidig (German) pitiful
Mitte (German) middle
Mobile (Italian) changeable
Moderato (Italian) moderate speed
Modéré (French) moderate speed
Modern music music contemporized with the present generations
Modo (Italian) manner, mode
Modulate change of key
Modulation change of key
Möglich (German) possible
Moins (French) less
Moitié (French) half
Moll (German) minor
Molle (Italian) gentle
Mollemente (Italian) gently
Molto (Italian) much
Monody a musical composition with only a single melody line
Monophonic a musical composition that has only a single melody line
Monophony a musical composition that has only a single melody line
Monothematic a composition based on a single theme
Monotone a single sustained, unvarying tone, or a succession of notes of the same tone
Monter (French) to raise
Monterey Cypress A wood that is a cousin to Spanish Cypress. The hues have a pinkish tone, but the overall appearance is one of a creamy luster. It is a stronger and a more reasonably priced alternative to Spanish Cypress. It is indistinguishable from Spanish Cypress in terms of sound production. See Wood Choices for Back & Sides See Alternative Wood Choices for Back & Sides See Anatomy of a Classical Guitar
Montez (French) raise
Moqueur (French) mocking, waggish
Morbidezza (Italian) gentleness or softness
Morbido (Italian) gentle or soft
Morceau (French) piece
Mordant a note ornament see mordant in Note Ornamentation
Morendo (Italian) dying away
Morgenlied morning song
Mormorando (Italian) murmuring
Mormorante (Italian) murmuring
Mormorevole (Italian) murmuring
Mormoroso (Italian) murmuring
Mosso (Italian) animated, moving
Motif (French) the smallest identifiable self-existent element of melody or rhythm
Motion the progress of a melody
Motiv (German) the smallest identifiable self-existent element of melody or rhythm
Motive the smallest identifiable self-existent element of melody or rhythm
Motivo (Italian) the smallest identifiable self-existent element of melody or rhythm
Moto (Italian) motion
Moto perpetuo (Italian) continuous movement
Moto precedente (Italian) the same speed as before
Motteggiando (Italian) bantering
Motto theme music that recurs and develops in the form of a quotation
Mouvement (French) movement
Mouvementé (French) animated, bustling
Movable clef clefs, such as the 'C' and 'G' clefs, which, to facilitate writing the notes on the staff rather than having to resort to ledger lines
Movement a self-contained section from a symphony, suite, sonata, concerto……….
Movente (Italian) moving
Movimento (Italian) motion, impulse
Mozambique an Afro-Cuban rhythm
mp (Italian) mezzo piano, halfway between soft and loud
Müde (German) tired
Muffle to reduce the sound of an instrument
Mühelos (German) effortless
Multimedia work contemporary works of art that employ several distinct art forms, such as sculpture and music or painting and light art
Multimetric music in which there are changing time signatures
Multiphonics performing two or more tones simultaneously
Multiple stopping performing two or more notes simultaneously on a violin, etc.
Mun Ebony An alternative wood for the back and sides of a classical guitar. See Wood Choices for Back & Sides See Alternative Wood Choices for Back & Sides See Anatomy of a Classical Guitar
Munter (German) lively
Murky playing style where the bass consists of quick alternating octaves rather than slower, longer notes, in either case, the progression would have been the same
Murmelnd (German) murmuring
Murmurando (Italian) murmuring
Music (Greek) organized sound
Music ficta the sharpening or flattening of notes prescribed or permitted in modal music for the purpose of avoiding certain intervals, harmonies or whatever
Music of the spheres an ancient doctrine originating with the Greeks that implies that the universe and everything in it is in harmony
Music therapy the use of music to cure or to bring physical or psychological relief
Musica falsa the sharpening or flattening of notes prescribed or permitted in modal music for the purpose of avoiding certain intervals, harmonies or whatever
Música jibara Puerto Rican music
Música norteña northern Mexican popular music
Musica parlante (Italian) recitative
Musica reservata serious music
Musical a popular successor to musical comedy
Musical comedy a play with songs and music, catchy, comic and romantic
Musical periods periods when Western music was written
Musical Scales See Musical Scales
Musical Switch a medley of popular tunes