Terminology

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Listing by Name { M }

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• ma – but
• ma non troppo – but not too much
• maestoso – majestically, in a stately fashion
• magico – magically
• magnifico – magnificent
• main droite (Fr) – [played with the] right hand (abbreviation: MD or m.d.)
• main gauche (Fr) – [played with the] left hand (abbreviation: MG or m.g.)
• malinconico – melancholy
• mano destra – [played with the] right hand (abbreviation: MD or m.d.)
• mano sinistra – [played with the] left hand (abbreviation: MS or m.s.)
• marcatissimo – with much accentuation
• marcato – 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 – in the march style
• mässig (Ger) – moderately
• 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 – 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
• meno – less; see meno mosso, for example, under mosso
• 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 alto.
• MG – see main gauche
• misterioso – mysteriously
• mobile – flexible, changeable
• moderato – moderate; often combined with other terms, usually relating to tempo; for example, allegro moderato
• modesto – modest
• moll (Ger) – 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
• munter (Ger) – lively