| Tablature | a notational system that uses letters, figures and other symbols to indicate how a piece might be performed, for instance by showing the position of a player's fingers on a representation of the strings of a guitar or lute |
| Tabor | a small drum played in conjunction with a three-holed pipe of the recorder family by one player |
| Tacere, Tace, Tacciono | (Italian) to be silent, is silent, are silent |
| Tacet, Tacent (plural form) | (Latin) silent |
| Tafelklavier | (German) virginals, spinet |
| Tafelmusik | (German) table-music, the performance of which might accompany a meal |
| Takt | (German) bar (measure) |
| Taktart | (German) time-species (i.e. duple, triple, etc.) |
| Taktfest | (German) in steady time |
| Taktieren | (German) to beat time |
| Taktmässig | (German) tempo commodo |
| Taktnote | (German) semibreve |
| Taktpause | (German) a bar's rest |
| Taktschlag | (German) beat |
| Taktstock | (German) conductor's baton |
| Taktstrich | (German) bar-line |
| Taktwechsel | (German) time-change |
| Taktzeichen | (German) time signature |
| Takt halten | (German) to hold or beat time |
| Talon | (French) the nut end of a violin bow |
| Tambour | (French) drum |
| Tambour de Basque | (French) tambourine |
| Tambourin | (French) tabor, a dance piece played over a pedal note (to mimic a hurdy-gurdy or bagpipe), a Provinçal dance |
| Tambourine | a percussion instrument consisting of a wooden hoop (sometime fitted with small cymbals) with or without a parchment covering which is struck with the heel of the hand, the whole hand or the finger tips or maybe struck against the player's side |
| Tambour militaire | (French) side-drum |
| Tamburo basco | (Italian) tambourine |
| Tamburo grande (or Tamburo grosse, Gran tamburo), Tamburo militaire, Tamburone, Tamburo piccolo, Tamburo rullante | (Italian) bass drum, snare drum (or side drum), bass drum, side drum, tenor drum |
| Tampon | (French) drumstick |
| Tam-tam | gong |
| Tändelei, Täendelnd | (German) badinage or playfulness, playfully |
| Tangent | a part of a clavichord key that touches the string when the key is pressed down |
| Tango | slow Argentinian dance in simple duple time performed by a couple |
| Tant | (French) as much, much |
| Tanto | (Italian) so much, as much, too much |
| Tantino | (Italian) a very little |
| Tanz, Tänze | (German) dance, dances |
| Tarantella (It.), Tarantelle (Fr.) | a dance, which gets faster and faster, from Taranto, southern Italy, which is said to cure the result of a poisonous bite from the Tarantula spider |
| Tarbouka | a pot-like drum from North Africa |
| Tardo, Tarda | (Italian) slow |
| Tardamente, Tartando or Tardantemente, Tardato | (Italian) slowly, gradually slowing, gradually slowed |
| Taste, Tasten (plural form) | (German) key, keys as on a keyboard |
| Tastiera, Tasti (plural form), Tasto | (Italian) key, keys as on a keyboard |
| Tattoo | music played by bugles and drums |
| Tchardache | czardas |
| Tedesca | (Italian) something German |
| Teil, Theil | (German) part, portion, section |
| Teller | (German) the plate of a cymbal |
| Tema | (Italian) theme, for example the subject of a set of theme and variations |
| Temperament | a relationship between the notes in a scale chosen by a tuner of usually fixed pitch musical instruments to suit a performer or listener's particular taste, in particular tuning systems used in the past and the equal temperament system used today |
| Tempestoso, Tempestosamente | (Italian) tempestuous, tempestuously |
| Tempo, Tempi (plural form) | (Italian) speed |
| Tempo comodo, Tempo commodo | (Italian) at a speed to suit the player |
| Tempo di ballo | (Italian) dance speed |
| Tempo di minuetto | (Italian) minuet speed |
| Tempo guisto | (Italian) the speed the style demands |
| Tempo maggiore | alla breve |
| Tempo minore, Tempo ordinario | (Italian) neither too fast nor too slow, a moderate tempo, sometimes the same as tempo primo |
| Tempo primo | the first tempo, as the original tempo |
| Tempo rubato | rubato, the freedom to make small changes in tempo during the progress of the piece to enhance its musical effect |
| Tempo wie vorher | (German) tempo primo |
| Temps | (French) time, beat |
| Tendre, Tendrement | (French) tender, tenderly |
| Tenebroso | (Italian) gloomy, dark mood |
| Tenendo | (Italian) sustaining |
| Tenero, Teneroso or Teneramente, Tenerezza | (Italian) tender, tenderly, tenderness |
| Tenete | (Italian) hold, sustain |
| Tenore (Italian), Ténor (Fr.), Tenor (Ger.) | tenor |
| Tenore leggiero, Tenore robusto | (Italian) light tenor voice, robust tenor voice |
| Tenorgeige | (German) viola |
| Tenorposaune | (German) tenor trombone |
| Tenorstimme | (German) tenor voice |
| Tenu (Fr. masculine), Tenue (Fr. feminine), Tenuto (It.) | held, held on |
| Tenuta | (Italian) held, held on, fermata (the pause sign) |
| Tepido | (Italian) unimpassioned, lukewarm |
| Tepidità, Tepidamente | (Italian) lukewarmness, in a tepid manner |
| Terana | a six beat to the bar (measure) dance |
| Tessitura | (Italian) the range and position of a voice or instrument, as in a 'high tessitura' to describe a part which is set high on an instrument |
| Testa | (Italian) head, as related to the voice |
| Testo | (Italian) text, libretto |
| Tetrachords | the two groups of four notes that make up the two halves of a major or minor scale |
| Theater (Ger.) | theatre |
| Theorbo | a large lute |
| Thérémin | a type of electronic musical instrument |
| Thirty-second note | demisemiquaver |
| Thorough Bass | figured bass |
| Threnody | a dirge |
| Tie | also called a 'bind', a sign that shows that the note being played or sung is sustained, unbroken, throughout the total time value of the notes under the sign |
| Tief | (German) deep, low |
| Tiefgespannt | (German) a drum slackened off to produce a lower pitched sound |
| Tiepido | a variant of 'tepido' |
| Tierce | (French) third |
| Timbales | (French) kettledrum |
| Timbre | the tone-quality or colour of a note that allows us to distinguish the difference between the same note played variously on musical instrument of different types, i.e. the oboe as opposed to the violin, and which is essentially related to the number and relative strengths of the various harmonics each instrument produces |
| Timbrer | (French) accented |
| Timido, Timidezza | (Italian) timid, timidity |
| Timore, Timoroso, Timorosamente | (Italian) fear, fearful, fearfully |
| Timpani | kettle-drums, a set of tuned drums |
| Tinter (Fr.) Tintinnare (It.) | to tinkle |
| Tintement | (French) tinking |
| Tinto | (Italian) colour, expression |
| Tirana | A Spanish song-dance from Andalusia |
| Tirare, Tirando, Tirato | (Italian) to draw, drawing, drawn - refering to the down-bow on the violin |
| Tirer, Tiré | (French) to drawn, drawn - refering to the down-bow on the violin |
| Tobend | (German) blustering |
| Toccata, Toccatina or Toccatino (diminutive forms) | (Italian) a piece of rapid music for keyboard |
| Todt, Todtenmesse, Todtenmarsch | (German) dead, Mass for the dead (requiem), dead march |
| Togli | (Italian) take off, take away, in the sense to turn off some aspect of organ or harpsichord registration |
| Toile | (Italian) theatre curtain |
| Tombeau | (French) a piece written in someone's memory |
| Tome | (French) volume of a set of collected volumes |
| Tom-Tom | a drum |
| Ton, Töne (plural form) | (German) pitch, key |
| Ton | (French) pitch, key |
| Ton aigre | (French) shrill sound |
| Ton bouché | (French) stopped note on a horn |
| Ton de chasse | (French) hunting call |
| Ton de cor | (French) horn crook |
| Ton de rechange | (French) spare crook |
| Ton de trompette | (French) trumpet crook |
| Ton doux | (French) a sweet tone-quality |
| Ton d'eglise | (French) church mode or key |
| Ton majeur | (French) major key |
| Tonabstand | (German) interval |
| Tonada, Tonadilla (diminutive form) | (Spanish) a tune set for a dance or to verse |
| Tonante | (Italian) thunderous |
| Tonart | (German) character of different types of scale, i.e. major, minor, modal, etc. |
| Tonbild or Tondictung, Tonbühne, Tondichter | (German) tone-poem, orchestral platform, composer |
| Tondo | (Italian) full-toned |
| Tonfarbe | (German) tone-colour, timbre |
| Tonfolge | (German) melody |
| Tonfülle | (German) volume of tone |
| Tongeschlecht | (German) major or minor |
| Tonhöhe | (German) pitch |
| Toni (plural form), Tono | (Italian) tone, key, mode |
| Tonitruone | (Italian) a sheet of metal used to simulate the sound of thunder |
| Tonkunst, Tonkünsterler | (German) musical knowledge, someone possessing such knowledge |
| Tonlage | (German) range, compass, register |
| Tonlehre | (German) acoustics |
| Tonleiter | (German) scale |
| Tonlos | (German) toneless |
| Tonmalerei | (German) programme music |
| Tonmass | (German) time |
| Tonnerre | (French) thunder |
| Tonreihe | (German) note-row, tone-row (serial music) |
| Tonschlüssel | (German) key-note |
| Tonsetzer | (German) composer |
| Tonus | (Latin) mode, Gregorian tone |
| Tordion, Tourdion | basse dance |
| Tornada | a refrain from Catalonian folk songs |
| Tornare, Tornando | (Italian) to return, returning |
| Torvo | (Italian) grim |
| Tostissimo, Tostissimamente, Tosto | (Italian) very rapid, rapidly, rapid |
| Touche | (French) fingerboard |
| Toujours | (French) always |
| Tout, Toute, Tous, Toutes | (French) all |
| Tout à coup | (French) suddenly |
| Tout à fait | (French) completely |
| Tout ensemble | (French) the whole, the general effect, all together |
| Toye, Toy | a light piece for virginals from the 16th and early 17th centuries |
| Tradotto (It.), Traduit (Fr.) | translated, arranged, transposed |
| Tradzione (It.), Traduction (Fr.) | translation, arrangement, transposition |
| Trainé | (French) dragged |
| Tranquillo, Tranquillamente, Tranquillità or Tranquillezza | (Italian) tranquil, tranquilly, tranquillity |
| Transient Shake | an alternative name for the upper mordent |
| Transition | a short passing change of key, an abrupt key change |
| Transposing Instruments | instruments that do not play the notes they read, i.e. bass flute, cor anglais, oboe d'amore, oboe in E flat, heckelphone, sarrusophone, clarinets in B flat and A, bass clarinet, high clarinets in E flat and D, alto clarinet in E flat and F, basset horn, pedal clarinet, saxophones, cornets, french horns, trumpets, saxhorns - instruments that play any number of octaves above or below the written part are not defined as transposing instrument |
| Transposition | the changing of the pitch of a piece without changing anything else |
| Transverse Flute | the cross-blown flute, as distinct from an end-blown flute such as the recorder |
| Trascinando | (Italian) dragging, rallentando |
| Trascrizione | (Italian) arrangement, transcription |
| Trattenuto | (Italian) held back, sustained |
| Tratto | (Italian) dragged |
| Tratto, Non | (Italian) do not drag |
| Trauer, Trauermarsch | (German) sorrow, Funeral march |
| Traum | (German) dream |
| Traurig | (German) sad |
| Tre | (Italian) three |
| Treble | the highest part in choral singing, a recorder in F also called the 'alto', the unbroken boy's voice |
| Treibend | (German) hurrying, rushing |
| Tremando, Tremante, Tremolando, Tremolante | (Italian) with tremolo |
| Tremolo | vibrato |
| Trenodia | (Italian) threnody |
| Trepak | a simple duple time Russian popular dance |
| Très | (French) very |
| Trescone | a Florentine dance similar to the cushion dance but employing a handkerchief |
| Triangel (Ger.), Triangle (Eng.), Triangolo (It.) | a piece of metal rod bent to form the outline of a triangle but with one corner open, suspended from a chord, which is struck with a metal beater to produce a ringing tone of fixed pitch |
| Trihory | a bransle-like dance from Brittany |
| Trilogy (Eng.), Trilogie (Fr., Ger.), Trilogia (It.) | three works on a common theme |
| Trinklied | (German) drinking song |
| Trio | a piece played by three players, a piece of music to be play such a group, a contrasted section between two performances of a minuet (i.e. minuet - trio - minuet) |
| Triolet | a form of poetry, a triplet, a short trio |
| Trionfale, Trionfante | (Italian) triumphant |
| Tripelkonzert, Tripelconcert | (German) a concerto for three soloists |
| Triple-croche | (French) demisemiquaver, thirty-second-note |
| Triste (Fr.), Tristo (It.) | sad |
| Tristesse (Fr.), Tristezza (It.) | sadness |
| Tritone | the interval of the augmented 4th, two notes three whole tones apart |
| Trois, Troisième | (French) three, third |
| Tromba | (Italian) trumpet |
| Tromba a macchina, Tromba cromatica, Tromba ventile | (Italian) valve trumpet |
| Tromba da tirarsi | (Italian) slide trumpet |
| Tromba marina | a monochord on which the player touches a thumb lightly on the string while bowing between that point and a bridge to produce a clear, trumpet-like sound |
| Tromba spezzata | (Italian) trombone |
| Trombone e cilindri | (Italian) valve trombone |
| Trombonino | (Italian) alto trombone |
| Trommel | (German) side drum |
| Trommelflöte | (German) fife |
| Tromp. Trompe, Trompe de Béarn, Trompe de Berne, Trompe de Laquais | alternative names for the Jew's harp |
| Trompete (Ger.), Trompette (Fr.) | trumpet |
| Trompette à Coulisse | (French) slide trumpet |
| Trompette à Pistons | (French) standard trumpet |
| Trompette Basse | (French) bass trumpet |
| Trompette Chromatique | (French) valve trumpet |
| Trop (Fr.), Troppo (It.) | too much |
| Troubadours | minstrels |
| Trüb, Trübe | (German) sad |
| Tsigane, Tzigane | (French) gipsy |
| Tubo di ricambio | (Italian) crook or shank of a brass instrument |
| Tuning | temperament |
| Turca, Alla | (Italian) in a Turkish style |
| Turmmusik | (German) music played from a tower by the town band |
| Tusch | (German) a fanfare or flourish |
| Tutta, Tutte, Tutti (plural form), Tutto | (Italian) all |
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