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).
Read more about this topic: Glossary Of Musical Terminology