In music, a serenade (or sometimes serenata) is a song or piece of music which is sung or played in someone’s honour. The word comes from the Latin "serenare" meaning: "to make calm".
In the Middle Ages and Renaissance a serenade was usually a song which was sung by a lover underneath the window of his sweetheart in a country such as Spain. The lover may accompany himself on a guitar. This kind of serenade is often seen in operas, e.g. Mozart’s Don Giovanni . There is also a verb: to serenade, e.g. “the lover was serenading his sweetheart”.