| D' | (French) of - abbreviation of 'De' |
| Da | (Italian) of, from |
| Da capo | (Italian) from the beginning |
| Dal Segno | (Italian) from the sign |
| Damp | to quieten a stringed instrument or drum by touching the string(s) or drum-skin with a soft material |
| Dämpfer | (German) mute |
| Dämpfung | (German) muting, on a piano 'using the soft pedal' |
| Danse | (French) dance |
| Danza | (Italian) dance |
| Danza española | a dance in simple duple rhythm originating from Spain |
| Dargason | an English folk tune |
| Darunter | (German) under there, amongst them |
| Das | (German) the |
| Dasselbe | (German) the same |
| Dauer | (German) duration |
| Dauernd | (German) lasting, continuing |
| De | (French) of, from |
| Debile (It.), Débile (Fr.) | weak |
| Debole | (Italian) weak |
| Début | first public performance |
| Déchant | (French) descant |
| Décidé (Fr.), Decido (It.) | with decision |
| Decimette | a composition for ten performers |
| Declamando, Declamato | (Italian) in a declamatory style |
| Déoupler | (French) to uncouple |
| Decrescendo, Decresciuto | (Italian) to get gradually softer |
| Défaut | (French) fault, lack |
| Dehors | (French) outside, prominent |
| De la | (French) of the, from the |
| Delicato, Delicatamente, Delicatissimo, Delicatezza | (Italian) delicate, delicately, as delicately as possible, delicacy |
| Dé,lié | (French) staccato, detached, supple |
| Delirio, Delirante | (Italian) frenzy, frenzied |
| Delizioso | (Italian) delicious, sweet |
| Démancher | (French) the shift the left hand close to the bridge |
| Demi | (French) half |
| Demi-jeu | (French) a term meaning 'to play at half strength' |
| Demi-pause | (French) half-rest, minim rest |
| Demisemiquaver | thirty-second note |
| Demi-ton | (French) semitone |
| Demi-voix | (French) half the vocal power |
| Demütig, Demüthig | (German) meek |
| Dennoch | (German) nevertheless |
| Der | (German) the |
| Derb | (German) firm, solid, rough |
| Derselbe | (German) the same |
| Des | (German) of the, the note 'D flat' - (French) the |
| Descant | the soprano recorder, a line extemporized above the tune, the top vocal line |
| Deses | (German) the note 'D double flat' |
| Desiderio | (Italian) desire |
| Desinvolto, Desinvoltura | (Italian) ease |
| Dessous | (French) below |
| Dessus | (French) above |
| Desto | (Italian) bouyant, sprightly |
| Destro, Destra | (Italian) right, dexterous |
| De suite | (French) immediately, one following the other |
| Détaché | (French) staccato, detached |
| Determinato | (Italian) determined |
| Deutlich | (German) distinct |
| Deutsch | (German) German' |
| Deuxième | (French) second |
| Deux temps | (French) in 2/2 time, in a tempo where there are two dance steps to a bar whatever the time signature |
| Development | a musical form during which thematic material, introduced earlier, is greatly extended |
| Devoto | (Italian) devout, with devotion |
| Devozione | (Italian) devotion |
| Di | (Italian) by, from, of |
| Diabolus in musica | the tritone |
| Daipason normal | (French) standard pitch |
| Diapente | (Greek) the interval of a fifth |
| Dichtung | (German) poem |
| Dick | (German) thick |
| Diction | a word generally used to mean 'enunciation', the clarity of a musical line and, in the case of vocal music, of the words |
| Die | (German) the |
| Dieci | (Italian) ten |
| Dièse | (French) the sharp sign |
| Dieselbe | (German) the same |
| Dieis | (Italian) the sharp sign, a term from acoustics denoting the small difference between the interval of an octave and that produced by three consecutive 'perfect' major thirds |
| Dietro | (Italian) behind |
| Diluendo | (Italian) dying away |
| Dilungando | (Italian) lengthening |
| Diminuendo | (Italian) gradually getting softer |
| Di molto | (Italian) very |
| Di nuevo | (Italian) anew |
| Dis | (German) the note 'D sharp' |
| Discant | descant |
| Discreto | (Italian) discreet, reserved |
| Discrezione, Discretezza | (Italian) discretion, reserve |
| Disinvolto | (Italian) easy going, self-possessed |
| Disis | (German) the note 'D double sharp' |
| Disperato or Disperabile or Disperante, Disperazione | (Italian) desperate, despair |
| Distanza | (Italian) distance |
| Distinto | (Italian) distinct, clear |
| Divertimento | (Italian) a suite or collection of dance movements, a fantasia based on airs from an opera |
| Divertissement | (French) entr'acte, dances and songs inserted in an 18th century French opera, a fantasia |
| Divisés (Fr.), Divisi (It.) | a division of an orchestra section (most commonly the first or second violins) so that the section plays two musical lines that are generally written as double notes (i.e. one above the other) in the single part |
| Divisions | a form of variations, long ornamented vocal lines |
| Divoto, Divotamente | (Italian) devoutly |
| Divozione | (Italian) devoutness |
| Dix | (French) ten |
| Doch | (German) yet, still, nevertheless |
| Doglia, Doglioso, Dogliosamente | (Italian) sorrow, sorrowful, sorrowfully |
| Doigt | (French) finger |
| Doigté | (French) fingering |
| Doit, Doivent | (French) must |
| Dolce | (Italian) sweet, soft |
| Dolente, Dolentemente, Dolentissimo | (Italian) 'doleful' or 'sorrowful', sorrowfully, very sorrowful |
| Dolore, Doloroso, Dolorosamente | (Italian) 'dolour' or 'pain', 'dolorous' or 'painful', painfully |
| Dopo | (Italian) after |
| Doppel | (German) double |
| Doppel B, Doppel-be | (German) double flat |
| Doppelfagott | (German) double bassoon |
| Doppelkreuz | (German) double sharp |
| Doppeln | (German) to double |
| Doppelschlag | (German) the ornament called 'the turn' |
| Doppeltaktnote | (German) the breve, the double whole-note |
| Doppelt so schnell | (German) twice as fast |
| Doppio | (Italian) double |
| Doppio bemolle | (Italian) double flat |
| Doppio diesis | (Italian) double sharp |
| Doppio movimento | (Italian) twice as fast |
| Double | (French) variation |
| Double-bémol | (French) double flat |
| Double-croche | (French) semiquaver, sixteenth-note |
| Double-dièse | (French) double sharp |
| Double Flat | the sign that lowers a note by two semi-tones |
| Double-sharp | the sign that raises a note by two semitones |
| Double Stopping | a string-instrument technique in which the player, placing two fingers on adjacent strings and bowing the two strings simultaneously, produces two notes at the same time - the term may also by used even when one of the two sounding strings is unstopped, i.e. open |
| Double Whole-note | breve |
| Douce, Doux | (French) sweet, soft |
| Douleur, Douloureux or Douloureuse, Douloureusement | (French) sadness, sad, sadly |
| Doxologia, Doxology | liturgical formula of praise |
| Drabant | a Polish dance with a march-like opening followed by an Obertass |
| Drammatico | (Italian) dramatic |
| Drängend | (German) hurrying, urging forward |
| Drehleyer, Drehleier | (German) hurdy-gurdy |
| Drei | (German) three |
| Dreinfahren | (German) to talk roughly |
| Dringend | (German) urgent, pressing on |
| Dritte | (German) third |
| Drohend | (German) threatening |
| Droit, Droite | (French) right |
| Droits d'execution | (French) Performing Rights |
| Du | (French) of the |
| Dub | Old English word for tabor |
| Due | (Italian) two |
| Duet | a piece of music for two players |
| Duftig | (German) misty |
| Dulcimer | a box shaped instrument across which strings are stretched, the strings being struck with a pair of small wooden hammers, occasionally the term is applied to an instrument (really a pasltery or zither) on which the strings are plucked with the fingers or with a plectrum |
| Dumka | a Slavonic folk ballad, alternately slow and quick, often in a minor key |
| Dumpf | (German) dull, muted |
| Dunkel, Dunkler | (German) dark, darker |
| Duo | (Italian, French) duet |
| Duolo | (Italian) grief |
| Dur | (German) major, in the sense of major key |
| Duramente | (Italian) harshness, sternness, hardness |
| Durch | (German) through |
| Durchaus | (German) throughout |
| Durchdringend | (German) penetrating |
| Durchführung | (German) development |
| Durchweg | (German) throughout, altogether, generally, nearly always |
| Dureté | (French) hardness, severity |
| Durezza | (Italian) hardness, severity |
| Duro | (Italian) hard, firm |
| Dur Ton, Dur Tonart | (German) major key |
| Düster | (German) sombre |
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