ma - but.
madrigal - a composition for unaccompanied voices. It originated in Italy in the fifteenth century, and was written in from two to eight voices.
maestoso - dignified.
maggiore - the major key.
main droite - right hand.
main gauche - left hand.
major - a diatonic scale with half steps between the third and fourth and between the seventh and eighth tones of the scale. Also, a triad consisting of a major and a minor third.
mancando - dying away.
moniera - manner, style.
mano - the hand.
mano destra - the right hand.
mano sinistra - the left hand.
marcando/marcato - accented.
march - a piece written in simple duple or quadruple time, strongly accented, used for accompanying marching (usually of soldiers).
martellato - strongly marked - hammered.
marziale - in the style of a march.
mazurka - a Polish national dance in moderate 3/4 time, with strong accents on the third beat, and sometimes on the second.
measure - a group of beats between bar lines; also, all the notes between two bar lines.
mediant - the third note of a diatonic scale, and the chord built on that note.
medium - the voices and/or instruments required for the performance of a composition; plural: media.
melisma, melismatic - a melodic passage sung to one syllable of the text; a melodic style of many notes to a syllable.
melody, melodic - consecutive tones; the linear or horizontal element of music.
meter, metric - the measuring of time in music according to a specific number of beats to the measure.
meno - less.
mesto/mestoso - sad, mournful.
mezza/mezzo - medium, half.
mezzo soprano - a female voice lower than a soprano but higher than a contralto.
minacciando - menacing.
minor - a diatonic scale with a half step between the second and third notes of the scale; the upper tetrachord of a minor scale is variable, resulting in natural, harmonic, and melodic forms of the minor scale. A triad consisting of a minor and major third.
minuet (menuet) - a French dance in triple time, usually followed by a TRIO and then repeated. The early minuets were rather dignified and graceful but the later ones became faster and lighter in character.
misterioso - in a mysterious manner.
misurato - in strict, measured time.
mobile - changeable.
moderato - in moderate time.
modality, modal - melody and/or harmony based on one of the church modes.
mode - one of the eight church modes. Also refers to major or minor keys.
modulation - melodic or harmonic progressions which begin in one key and end in another.
molto - very much, a great deal.
monody - early 17-century term for accompanied solo songs.
monophony, monophonic - texture consisting of a single melodic line without accompaniment.
morendo - dying away in time and tone.
mormoroso - with a gentle, murmuring sound.
mosso - movement, motion.
motive - a short melodic and/or rhythmic fragment.
moto - motion (con moto - rather quick).
moto perpetuo - perpetual motion.
movement - the complete and independent part of large works such as sonatas, symphonies, suites.
movimento - impulse, the time of a piece.
multitonality - music which shifts abruptly between two or more remotely related keys without modulation.
musette - a short French dance-tune of pastoral character, with a drone-bass, originally played on a bag-pipe. Found in some Suites usually following a Gavotte.
musicology - the scholarly study of music, especially research in music history.
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