M

Madrigal: A Renaissance choral piece, usually unaccompanied.

Maggiore: The major mode.

Major: "Greater". A term used to describe certain intervals ( second, third, sixths and sevenths), chords and the Ionian mode.

Major Chord: a triad composed of a root, a third, and a fifth.

Major Scale: A diatonic scale where the half-steps fall between the third and fourth, and the seventh and root. This scale is identical to the Ionian mode.

Mannheim School: A Preclassical group of German symphonic composers whose style including extended crecendos (called steamrollers) and melodies that arpeggiated upward, (referred to as rockets).

March: Music for marching, such as in a parade or procession.

Mass: A musical setting which has been observed by Roman Catholic Church which has has a profound influence upon the development of music. High Mass is sung and Low Mass is spoken. The service is structured such that there are two large groupings of music which fall under either the ordinary or the proper (special occasions). See also Kyrie, Agnus Dei, Gradual, Offertory, and Sanctus.

Measure: A notational space indicating a span of time marked by bar lines.

Melisima: (Gr. Song, plural melismata) A group of notes sung over one syllable.

Melody: A musical element which is progression of pitches that deliver musical content.

Meter: The arrangement of pulse in music accounting for strong and weak beat, phrase length, and period of accompaniment. Notated by use of a time signature.

Meter Signature: See time signature.

Microbeat: Beats within beats. The primary beat (macrobeat) of music can be subdivided into smaller increments occasionally referred to in music education terminology as microbeats.

MIDI: Acronym for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. This is a standardized communication protocol for electronic instruments to relay information and trigger electronic musical events.

Middle C:The note C found at the approximate center of the keyboard, commonly tuned to 256 hertz. Also the pitch represented one ledger line below the treble clef or one ledger line above the bass clef.

Minor:(It. Minore; Fr. mineur) opposite of major, applied to scales, keys, chords, and intervals.

Mixolydian Mode: A mode whose scale pattern is whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, half step, whole step. Originally this was a medieval church mode but now is commonly used in popular and jazz music.

Mode: A scale pattern consisting of set intervals of whole and half steps which originated with medieval church modes. The primary modes are Aeolian, Dorian, Ionian, Locrian, Lydian, Mixolydian, and Phrygian which are all relative to the Major scale (Ionian Mode). Additionally there are modes of the ascending melodic minor and harmonic minor scales.

Modal: Pertaining to modes.

Modern: Music written in the 20th and 21st century, or contemporary music.

Modulation: 1. To change keys, the movement from one tonic center to another.

Monody: A solo or unison song with accompaniment.

Monothematic: Music based upon a single theme.

Monophonic, Monophony: 1) Gr. One sound. Music that has only a single melodic line without harmony or other melodies in counterpoint as opposed to polyphony. Oldest general type of music.

Morceau: "Morsel". A musical work or composition.

Mordent: (It. mordere, to bite) A melodic ornament which is notated by a symbol placed over a given note. There are two main types of mordents including the Upper Mordent () and the Lower Mordent (). Performance of an Upper Mordent consisting of a single alternation between the given pitch and the scale pitch immediately above it (unless altered with an accidental). The Lower Mordent is performed with the given note and the scale pitch immediately below unles it too is altered with an accidental. Accidental would be placed above the Upper Mordent or below the Lower Mordent.

Motet: A choral composition that is usually based upon a religious text.

Motif: A short musical idea, or melodic theme that runs through a piece.

Movement: A self-contained segment of a larger musical work such as sonatas, symphonies and concertos.

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus: Composer...more to be added!

Music: A form of communication that conveys cultural and life experience through the medium of sound. Music begins with intent, is set in motion by movement, is transmitted through time and space, and is then received by those who may realize the original intent or create a new meaning from the experience.

Musical Alphabet: The letters A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, used along with accidentals, to denote pitch.

Musicology: The academic study of music and music history.

Music Drama: An opera, specifically that of Richard Wagner and his successors.

Musique Concrete: Music composed by manipulating recorded sounds, specifically acoustically generated real-world sounds.