| Term | Description |
|---|
| Metronome | A metronome is any device that produces a regulated: audible, visual or touch (any combination of the three) pulse, usually used to establish a steady tempo, measured in beats-per-minute (BPM) for the performance of musical compositions. |
| Mezzo-soprano | A mezzo-soprano (meaning "medium" or "middle" "soprano" in Italian) is a female singer whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above (i.e. A3-A5 in scientific pitch notation, where middle C = C4). |
| MIDI | MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is an industry-standard protocol that enables electronic musical instruments, computers, and other equipment to communicate, control, and synchronize with each other. |
| Military band | A military band is a group of personnel that perform musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. |
| Minimalist music | Minimalist music is an originally American genre of experimental or Downtown music named in the 1960s based mostly in consonant harmony, steady pulse (if not immobile drones), stasis and slow transformation, and often reiteration of musical phrases or smaller units such as figures, motifs, and cells. |
| Minnesang | Minnesang was the tradition of lyric and song writing in Germany which flourished in the 12th century and continued into the 14th century. |
| Minor chord | Minor chord is the triad made up of a minor third and perfect fifth above the root - if the root of the chord is C, the C minor chord will consist of the notes C (root), E♭ (minor third) and G (perfect fifth). This is also known as a minor triad. |
| Minor scale | A minor scale in music theory is a diatonic scale whose third scale degree is an interval of a minor third above the tonic. |
| Minor second | The minor second occurs in the major scale, between the third and fourth degree, (mi and fa), and between the seventh and eighth degree (ti and do). |
| Minor seventh | A minor seventh is the smaller of two commonly occurring musical intervals that span seven diatonic scale degrees. |
| Minor third | A minor third is the smaller of two commonly occurring musical intervals compounded of two steps of the diatonic scale. |
| Modern Dorian mode | In medieval and modern music, the Dorian mode is a diatonic scale or musical mode which corresponds to the white keys of the piano from "D" to "D". |
| Modern Lydian mode | In mediaeval and modern music, the Lydian mode is a major scale with the fourth scale degree played a semitone higher than it would be in the major scale. The mediaeval and modern Lydian mode is the same as the Greek Hypolydian mode. |
| Modern music | Modern music may refer to: (1) Music of the present (2) Contemporary classical music (3) Contemporary popular music industry (4) Modernist music (5) 21st century music |
| Modern musical symbols | Modern musical symbols are the marks and symbols that are widely used in musical scores of all styles and instruments today. |
| Modernism in music | Modernism in music is characterized by a desire for or belief in progress and science, surrealism, anti-romanticism, political advocacy, general intellectualism, and/or a breaking with the past or common practice — Ezra Pound's modernist slogan, "Make it new," as applied to music. |
| Modulation | In music, 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. |
| Moeller method | The Moeller method, or moeller technique, is named for drummer Sanford A. Moeller. This method of drumming is arguably one of the top drumming techniques sought by learners all over the world today. |
| Monody | In music, monody has two meanings: 1) it is sometimes used as a synonym for monophony, a single solo line, in opposition to homophony and polyphony; and 2) in music history, it is a solo vocal style distinguished by having a single melodic line and instrumental accompaniment. |
| Monophony | In music, monophony is the simplest of textures, consisting of melody without accompanying harmony. |
| Mordent | In music, a mordent is an ornament indicating that the note is to be played in a single rapid alternation with the note above or below. Like trills, they can be chromatically modified by a small flat, sharp or natural accidental. |
