Glossary Of Musical Terms (Updated by PeterA Dec 2019)

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Glossary Of Musical Terms (Updated by PeterA Dec 2019)

Postby Mike Bracchi » 12 May 2012 22:31

Glossary Of Musical Terms - Updated by PeterA December 2019

11/3' - a mutation stop that sounds two octaves and a fifth above the written pitch, usually called Larigot
13/5 - a mutation stop that sounds two octaves and a third above the written pitch, usually called Tierce
2′ - indicates a stop that sounds two octaves above the written pitch
22/3 - a mutation stop that sounds an octave and a fifth above the written pitch, usually called Nazard or Twelfth
3′ - another name for a 2 2/3′ stop
4′ - indicates a stop or coupler that sounds an octave above the written pitch
5 1/3 - a stop that sounds a fifth above the written pitch
8′ - indicates a stop or coupler that sounds at the written or concert pitch. i.e the same as that note played on a piano
16′ - indicates a stop or coupler that sounds an octave below the written pitch
32′ - a stop that sounds two octaves below the written pitch
Absolute Music - instrumental music with no intended story (non-programmatic music)
A cappella - One or more vocalists performing without an accompaniment.
Accelerando - A symbol used in musical notation indicating to gradually quicken tempo.
Accent - momentarily emphasizing a note with a dynamic attack
Accessible - Music that is easy to listen to and understand.
Action - the parts of an organ that connect the keys with the pipes
Adagio - A tempo having slow movement; restful at ease.
Aerophone - Musical instrument that produces sound with wave of air
Allargando - becoming gradually slower and more stately
Allegretto - slightly slower than allegro
Allegro - A direction to play lively and fast.
Alto - a low-ranged female voice; the second lowest instrumental range
Andante - moderate tempo (a walking speed; "Andare" means to walk)
Andantino - slightly faster than andante
Antiphonal - a division of the organ that is separate from the rest of the pipes; also question and answer effects
Aria - a beautiful manner of solo singing, accompanied by orchestra, with a steady metrical beat
Arioso - lit = airy. A type of solo vocal piece during an opera or operetta
Art-music - a general term used to describe the "formal concert music" traditions of the West, as opposed to "popular" and "commercial music" styles.
Art song - a musical setting of artistic poetry for solo voice accompanied by piano (or orchestra)
Atonal - Music that is written and performed without regard to any specific key.
Augmentation - lengthening the rhythmic values of a fugal subject
Avant-garde - ("at the forefront") a French term that describes highly experimental modern musical styles
Ballabile - danceable
Ballet - a programmatic theatrical work for dancers and orchestra
Bar - a common term for a musical measure
Baritone - a moderately low male voice; in range between a tenor and a bass
Baroque - The era between c1600-1750: a musical period of extremely ornate and elaborate approaches to the arts. It saw the rise of the instrumental music, the invention of the modern violin family and the creation of the first orchestras. (Vivaldi, Handel, J.S.Bach)
Bass - the lowest male voice; (see Double Bass)
Bass Drum - : the lowest-sounding non-pitched percussion instrument
Basso - Bass, the lowest voice
Basso Continuo - the back-up ensemble of the Baroque Era usually comprised of a keyboard instrument (harpsichord or organ) and a melodic stringed bass instrument ( viol' da gamba or cello) Bassoon: the lowest-sounding regular instrument of the woodwind family (a double-reed instrument)
Basso profundo - A very deep bass voice
Battuto - playing Col legno with percussive sound
Beat - The unit of musical rhythm.
Bebop - a complex, highly-improvisatory style of jazz promoted by Charlie Parker in the 1940s-50s "Big Band" jazz: see "Swing"
Bellows - an apparatus of wood and folded leather that provides wind for a pipe organ
Binary form - a form comprised of two distinctly opposing sections ("A" vs. "B")
Bitonality - modern music sounding in two different keys simultaneously
Blower - an electric fan that provides wind for a pipe organ
Blues - a melancholy style of Afro-American secular music, based on a simple musical/poetic form. "Dlta" blues began in the early 1900s; "Classic" blues in the late 1920s; "Rhythm and Blues" in the 1940s.
Bombarde - a division of the organ, also a large reed stop
Bourdon - a stopped flute stop of metal or wood
Brass instrument - a powerful metallic instrument with a mouthpiece and tubing that must be blown into by the player, such as trumpet, trombone, French horn, tuba, baritone, bugle
Burletta - a little joke. Light comic or farcical opera
Cabaletta - lit couplet. A 2 part musical form
Cadence - A sequence of chords that brings an end to a phrase, either in the middle or the end of a composition.
Cadenza - Initially an improvised cadence by a soloist; later becoming an elaborate and written out passage in an aria or concerto, featuring the skills of an instrumentalist or vocalist.
Calcant - A person who pumped the bellows on early pipe organs
Call and Response - a traditional African process in which a leader's phrase ("call") is repeatedly answered by a chorus. This process became an important aspect of many Afro-American styles.
Canon - A musical form where the melody or tune is imitated by individual parts at regular intervals. The individual parts may enter
at different measures and pitches. The tune may also be played at different speeds, backwards, or inverted.
Cantabile - A style of singing which is characterized by the easy and flowing tone of the composition.
Cantata - Music written for chorus and orchestra. Most often religious in nature.
Capriccio - A quick, improvisational, spirited piece of music.
Carol - A song or hymn celebrating Christmas.
Case - the wood box built around the pipes of an organ, to focus and blend their sound
Castrato - Male singers who were castrated to preserve their alto and soprano vocal range.
Cavatina - A short and simple melody performed by a soloist that is part of a larger piece.
Celeste - a rank of pipes tuned slightly sharp to cause beats with its companion rank
Cello - the tenor-ranged instrument of the modern string family (an abbreviation for violoncello)
Chamber - a room housing the pipes of an organ, opening into the main room
Chamber music - Written for 2 to 10 solo parts featuring one instrument to a part. Each part bears the same importance.
Chance music - a modern manner of composition in which some or all of the work is left to chance
Chant - Singing in unison, texts in a free rhythm. Similar to the rhythm of speech.
Character piece - a 1-movement programmatic work for a solo pianist
Chest - the box on which organ pipes stand, filled with air
Chimes - a percussion instrument comprised of several tube-shaped bells struck by a leather hammer
Choir - 1)Group of singers in a chorus.
2) a division of the organ, usually played from the lowest of three manuals, often enclosed
Choralbass - a 4′ principal stop found in the pedal division
Chorale - A hymn sung by the choir and congregation often in unison.
Chord - a harmonic combination of 3 or 4 notes played simultaneously.
Chordophone - musical instrument that makes sound with vibrating stretched string(s)
Chord progression - A string of chords played in succession.
Chorus - A group singing in unison.
Chromatic scale - Includes all twelve notes of an octave.
Chromaticism - 1) harmonic or melodic movement by half-step intervals;
2) harmony that uses pitches beyond the central key of a work
Clarinet - the tenor-ranged instrument of the woodwind family using a single-reed
Clarion - a trumpet stop, usually at 4′ pitch
Classic Era - The period of music history which dates from the mid 1700’s to mid 1800’s. The music was spare and emotionally
reserved, especially when compared to Romantic and Boroque music.
Classicism - c 1750-1820; a politically turbulent era focused on structural unity, clarity and balance. (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven).
Clavier - The keyboard of a stringed instrument.
Clef - In sheet music, a symbol at the beginning of the staff defining the pitch of the notes found in that particular staff.
Coda - Closing section of a movement.
Col legno- tapping the string with the wooden side of the bow (see also Tratto & Battuto)
Collegium Musicum - a university ensemble dedicated to the performance of early music (pre- 1750)
Coloratura soprano - A soprano specialised in complex ornamental melody
Combination action - a device allowing the organist to change stops with buttons or toe studs
Computer Music - music in which the composition and/or performance is controlled by a computer
Con brio - with vigour
Con sordini - with the mutes
Con sordino - with the mute
Concert Band - a large (non-marching) ensemble of woodwind, brass and percussion instruments
Concert master - The first violin in an orchestra.
Concertino - lit little concert. Short concerto or the solo instrument in a concerto
Concerto - A composition written for a solo instrument. The soloist plays the melody while the orchestra plays the accompaniment.
Concerto Grosso - a 3-movement work for a small group of soloists and orchestra
Conductor - One who directs a group of performers. The conductor indicates the tempo, phrasing, dynamics, and style by gestures and
facial expressions.
Con forza - with force
Con moto - with motion or quick movement
Console - the control centre of the organ
Consonance - Groups of tones that are harmonious when sounded together as in a chord.
Con sordini - with the mutes
Con sordino - with the mute
Contrabassoon - the lowest-sounding double-reed instrument of the woodwind family
Contralto - Lowest female singing voice.
"Cool" Jazz - a relaxed style of modern jazz, promoted in the 1950s/60s by Brubeck etc.
Cornet - a mellow-sounding member of the trumpet family
- a combination of stops at 8′, 4′, 22/3′, 2′, and 13/5
Countermelody - a secondary melodic idea that accompanies and opposes a main thematic idea
Counterpoint - Two or three melodic lines played at the same time.
Coupler - a device that makes the pipes from one division sound on another keyboard than its own, or at another octave
Courante - A piece of music written in triple time. Also an old French dance.
Crescendo - gradually getting louder
Crescendo pedal a pedal that brings on stops and couplers gradually on a pipe organ
Cromorne - a reed stop of the clarinet family
Cut-up - the height of a flue pipe mouth
Cymbals - percussion instrument usually consisting of two circular brass plates struck together as a pair
Da Capo - In sheet music, an instruction to repeat the beginning of the piece before stopping on the final chord.
Da capo aria - lit from the head aria. A 3 section musical form
Deceptive cadence - A chord progression that seems to lead to resolving itself on the final chord; but does not.
Decrescendo - decreasing—the opposite of crescendo—consists in gradually lessening the tone from loud to soft (see diminuendo). Printed as dec or decresc Note: decrescendo and diminuendo appear to mean the same thing.
Development - Where the musical themes and melodies are developed, written in sonata form.
Diapason - a flue pipe with basic organ tone
Diatonic - a melody or harmony based on one of the seven-tone major or minor Western scales
Dies Irae - a chant from the Requiem Mass dealing with God's wrath on the day of judgment
Diminuendo - gradually getting quieter (see decrescendo)
Diminution - the shorten the note values of a theme (usually to render it twice as fast)
Disjunct - a melody that is not smooth in contour (has many leaps)
Dissonance - Harsh, discordant, and lack of harmony. Also a chord that sounds incomplete until it resolves itself on a harmonious chord.
Division - a section of the organ, usually with its own keyboard and pipes
Doctrine of Affections - the Baroque methodology for evoking a specific emotion through music and text
Dotted note - a written note with a dot to the right of it (the dot adds half the rhythmic duration to the note's original value)
Double bass - the lowest-sounding instrument of the modern string family
Downbeat - the first beat of a musical measure (usually accented more strongly than other beats)
Dramma giocoso - lit jocular drama. A form of opera
Dramma per musica - drama for music. Libretto
Drone - Dull, monotonous tone such as a humming or buzzing sound. Also a bass note held under a melody.
Duet - A piece of music written for two vocalists or instrumentalists.
Duple Meter - a basic metrical pattern having two beats per measure
Dulzian - a reed stop in the clarinet family
Dynamics - Pertaining to the loudness or softness of a musical composition. Also the symbols in sheet music indicating volume.
Echo - a division of the organ, usually enclosed and across the room from the rest of the pipes
Electric action - action that uses electricity to open and close the pipe valves
Electric instrument - an instrument whose sound is produced or modified by an electro-magnetic pick-up
Electronic instrument - an instrument whose sound is produced or modified by electronic means
Electrophone - musical instrument producing sound primarily by electric means
Elegy - An instrumental lament with praise for the dead.
En chamade - the placement of reed pipes on their sides to project their tone
Encore - A piece of music played at the end of a recital responding to the audiences enthusiastic reaction to the performance, shown by continuous applause.
Energico - A symbol in sheet music a direction to play energetically.
English Horn - a tenor oboe; a richly nasal-sounding double-reed woodwind instrument; a colour reed stop in romantic organs.
Enharmonic Interval - Two notes that differ in name only. The notes occupy the same position. For example: C sharp and D flat.
Ensemble - The performance of either all instruments of an orchestra or voices in a chorus.
Episode - an intermediary (contrasting) section of a Baroque fugue or Classic rondo form
Erzähler - a hybrid flue stop with a sound between a flute and a string, usually soft
Equal Temperament - the standard modern tuning system in which the octave is divided into twelve equal "half-steps"
Espressivo - A direction to play expressively, and may also encourage physical expression by the performer.
Etude - A musical composition written solely to improve technique. Often performed for artistic interest.
Exposition - The first section of a movement written in sonata form, introducing the melodies and themes.
Expressionism - Atonal and violent style used as a means of evoking heightened emotions and states of mind.
Façade - the front of the organ chamber or case
Fagott - “bassoon” in German; a reed stop of the oboe family
Falsetto - A style of male singing where by partial use of the vocal chords, the voice is able to reach the pitch of a female.
Fermata - To hold a tone or rest held beyond the written value at the discretion of the performer.
Fifth - The interval between two notes. Three whole tones and one semitone make up the distance between the two notes.
Film Music - music that serves either as background or foreground material for a movie
Finale - Movement or passage that concludes the musical composition.
Fioritura - lit flowery. A highly embellished vocal line
Flat sign (b) - A symbol indicating that the note is to be diminished by one semitone.
“Floating” division - a division on a pipe organ that has no special keyboard, but plays by being coupled to another keyboard
Fourniture - a mixture
Flue - an organ pipe that makes sound by setting a column of air vibrating
Flute - a metal tubular instrument that is the soprano instrument of the standard woodwind family
Form - The structure of a piece of music.
Forte - A symbol indicating to play loud.
Fortepiano - an early prototype of the modern piano (designed to play both "loud" and "quiet")
Fortissimo (ƒ) - a very loud dynamic marking
Forzato - with forced or sudden emphasis
Fourniture - a mixture
Fourth - The interval between two notes. Two whole tones and one semitone make up the distance between the two notes.
French Horn - a valved brass instrument of medium/medium-low range (alto to bass); a colour reed stop in romantic organs
Fugue - A composition written for three to six voices. Beginning with the exposition, each voice enters at different times, creating counterpoint with one another.
Fundamental - the bottom pitch in the harmonic series
Fusion - a blending of jazz and rock styles
Galliard - Music written for a lively French dance for two performers written in triple time.
Gamba - a string stop, named after the early instrument
Gamelan - an Indonesian musical ensemble comprised primarily of percussion instruments
Gavotte - A 17th century dance written in Quadruple time, always beginning on the third beat of the measure.
Gedeckt - the German name for a stopped flute pipe
Gemshorn - a hybrid flue stop with a sound between a flute and a string
Genre - a category of musical composition (the specific classification of a musical work)
Glee - Vocal composition written for three or more solo parts, usually without instrumental accompaniment.
Glissando - Sliding between two notes.
Glockenspiel - a pitched-percussion instrument comprised of metal bars in a frame struck by a mallet
Gong - (also called "tam-tam") a non-pitched percussion instrument made of a large metal plate struck with a mallet.
Grand Orgue - the French name for the Great division
Grandioso - Word to indicate that the movement or entire composition is to be played grandly.
Grave - 1) The slowest tempo in music.
2) A directive to perform the indicated passage of a composition in a solemn, grave, or slow manner.
3) An extremely low pitch.
Great - the main division of an organ, usually played from the lower of two or the middle of three manuals
Grazioso - Word to indicate the movement or entire composition is to be played gracefully.
Gregorian Chant - Singing or chanting in unison without strict rhythm. Collected during the Reign of Pope Gregory VIII for psalms and other other parts of the church service.
Guitar- a six-stringed fretted instrument
Habañera - an exotic Cuban dance in duple meter
Half Step - the smallest interval in the Western system of equal temperament
Harmonic - one of the series of high pitches that are present in musical tones produced by natural means
Harmony - Pleasing combination of two or three tones played together in the background while a melody is being played. Harmony also refers to the study of chord progressions.
Harp - a plucked instrument having strings stretched on a triangular frame
Harpsichord - an ancient keyboard instrument whose sound is produced by a system of levered picks that pluck its metal strings (common in the Renaissance and Baroque eras)
Hauptwerk - the German name for the Great division
Hautbois - the French name for oboe
Home Key - see tonic key
Homophonic Texture - 1) a main melody supported by chord;
2) a texture in which voices on different pitches sing the same words simultaneously
Homophony - Music written to be sung or played in unison.
Horn - see French horn
Hot Jazz - a "Dixieland" style of jazz with a fast tempo promoted by Louis Armstrong
Hymn - A song of praise and glorification. Most often to honour God.
Idée fixe - a transformable melody that recurs in every movement of a multi-movement work
Idiophone - musical instrument creating sound primarily by whole thing vibrating (e.g. a gong
Imitation - a polyphonic texture in which material is presented then echoed from voice to voice
Impressionism - a modern French musical style based on blurred effects, beautiful tone colors and fluid rhythms (promoted by Debussy around the turn of the 1900s)
Impromptu - A short piano piece, often improvisational and intimate in character.
Incidental music - (genre) music performed during a theatrical play
Instrumentation - Arrangement of music for a combined number of instruments.
Interlude - Piece of instrumental music played between scenes in a play or opera.
Intermedio - lit intermediate. A short connecting instrumental movement – an intermezzo.
Intermezzo - Short movement or interlude connecting the main parts of the composition.
Interpretation - The expression the performer brings when playing his instrument.
Interval - The distance in pitch between two notes.
Intonation - The manner in which tones are produced with regard to pitch.
Introduction - The opening section of a piece of music or movement.
Inversion - a variation technique in which the intervals of a melody are turned upside down
Jazz - a style of American modern popular music combining African and Western musical traits
Jazz Band - an instrumental ensemble comprised of woodwinds (saxophones and clarinets), brasses (trumpets and trombones) and rhythm section (piano/guitar, bass and drum set)
Kettledrums - see timpani
Key - System of notes or tones based on and named after the key note.
Key signature - The flats and sharps at the beginning of each staff line indicating the key of music the piece is to be played.
Keyboard instrument - any instrument whose sound is initiated by pressing a series of keys with the fingers; piano, harpsichord, organ, synthesizer are the most common types
Klangfarben melodie - The technique of altering the tone colour of a single note or musical line by changing from one instrument to another in the middle of a note or line.
Koto - a Japanese plucked instrument with 13 strings and moveable bridges
Krummhorn - a reed stop of the clarinet family
Lamellophone, lamellaphone, linguaphone - (Latin lingua=tongue) musical instrument with thin plates/tongues plucked with fingers
Languid - the “block” of a metal pipe that sends the wind against the upper lip
Larigot - a mutation stop of 1 1/3′ that sounds two octaves and a fifth above the written pitch
Largo - a very slow, broad tempo, usually slower than adagio
Largemente - broadly, slow and dignified
Leading note - The seventh note of the scale where there is a strong desire to resolve on the tonic.
Legato - Word to indicate that the movement or entire composition is to be played smoothly.
Leitmotif - A musical theme given to a particular idea or main character of an opera.
Libretto - A book of text containing the words of an opera.
Lied - a German-texted art song (usually for one voice with piano accompaniment); plural = Lieder
Ligature - Curved line connecting notes to be sung or played as a phrase.
Lithophone - pieces of rock, struck to produce music
Lute - an ancient pear-shaped plucked instrument widely used in the Renaissance and Baroque eras
Madrigal - A contrapuntal song written for at least three voices, usually without accompaniment.
Maestro - Refers to any great composer, conductor, or teacher of music.
Major - One of the two modes of the tonal system. Music written in major keys have a positive or happy affirming character.
Major Scale - a family of seven alphabetically-ordered pitches within the distance of an octave, following an intervalic pattern matching the white keys from "C" to "C" on a piano).
March - A form of music written for marching in two-step time. Originally the march was used for military processions.
Marching Band - a large ensemble of woodwinds, brass, and percussion used for entertainment at sporting events and parades (usually performing march-like music in a strong duple meter).
Marimba - a pitched percussion instrument comprised of wooden bars struck by mallets
Mass - in music, a composition based on the five daily prayers of the Roman Catholic
Mass Ordinary - Kyrie, Gloris, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei.
Mass Proper - the approximately two dozen prayers of a Mass that change each day to reflect the particular feast day of the liturgical calendar
Mazurka - a type of Polish dance in triple meter, sometimes used by Chopin in his piano works
Measure - a rhythmic grouping, set off in written music by a vertical barline
Mechanical action - action that uses rods called “trackers” to connect the keys with the pipe valves on a pipe organ
Medieval - a term used to describe things related to the Middle Ages (c450-1450)
Medley - Often used in overtures, a composition that uses passages from other movements of the composition in its entirety.
Melisma - a succession of many pitches sung while sustaining one syllable of text
Melody - the musical element that deals with the horizontal presentation of pitch
membranophone - musical instrument producing sound by vibrating stretched membrane
Meno Mosso - Italian less motion or with a slower tempo. Often qualified by poco meno mosso - or a little less motion.
Metallophone - musical instrument with tuned metal bars struck usually with mallets
Meter - beats organized into recurring and recognizable accent patterns (2/4, 3/4, 4/4, etc.)
Metronome - a mechanical (or electric) device that precisely measures tempo
Measure - a rhythmic grouping, set off in written music by a vertical barline
Mezzo - The voice between soprano and alto. Also, in sheet music, a direction for the tempo to be played at medium speed.
Mezzo-forte (mf) - a medium loud dynamic marking
Mezzo-piano (mp) - a medium quiet dynamic marking
Mezzo-soprano - a dramatic woman's voice that combines the power of an alto with the primary high range of a soprano
Microtone - a non-Western musical interval that is smaller than a Western half-step
Middle Ages - c450-1450; an era dominated by Catholic sacred music, which began as simple chant but grew in complexity in the 13th to 15th centuries by experiments in harmony and rhythm. (Anonymous monks, Pérotin, Machaut)
MIDI - an acronym for Musical Instrument Digital Interface; a protocol established in the 1970s that allows digital synthesizers to communicate with computers
Minimalism - a modern compositional approach promoted by Glass, Reich, etc., in which a short melodic/ rhythmic/harmonic idea is repeated and gradually transformed as the basis of an extended work
Minor - One of the two modes of the tonal system. The minor mode can be identified by the dark, melancholic mood.
Minor Key - music based on a minor scale (traditionally considered "sad" sounding)
Minor Scale - a family of seven alphabetically-ordered pitches within the distance of an octave, following an intervalic pattern matching the white keys from "A" to "A" on a piano).
Minuet - Slow and stately dance music written in triple time.
Minuet and trio form - the traditional third-movement form of the Classic 4-movement design, based on an aristocratic dance in 3/4 meter
Mitred pipe - a pipe bent to fit into limited space on a pipe organ
Mixture - a stop of more than one rank of pipes at various high pitches
Moderato - moderate tempo, slower than allegretto but faster than andante
Mode - a scale or key used in a musical composition (major and minor are modes, as are ancient modal scales found in Western music before c.1680
Modulation - To shift to another key.
Molto - lit a lot or very. Used with other musical commands to intensify their effects. e.g. molto crescendo - speed up very quickly. It is the opposite of poco.
Monophonic Texture - a single-line texture with no harmony
Monotone - Repetition of a single tone
Montre - the French word for principal, from the verb “to show” – meaning the pipes that show in the case
Morendo - lit dying. so dying away in tempo, with a gradual softening of tone and slowing of movement
Mosso - lit moved, moving. May be preceded with Più or Meno
Motet - a polyphonic vocal piece set to a sacred Latin text that is NOT from the Roman Catholic Mass
Motif - Primary theme or subject that is developed
Motive - a small musical fragment ("Lego" block) used to build a larger musical idea; can be reworked in the course of a composition (as in the 4-note motive in Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C minor)
Moto - Motion; usually seen as con moto, meaning with motion or quickly movement
Movement - A separate section of a larger composition.
mp3 - a modern technology that allows digital CD-quality sound to be compressed into files that are approximately 8 times smaller than the original, with no loss of quality
Musette - A Boroque dance with a drone-bass.
Musicology - The study of forms, history, science, and methods of music.
Musikdrama - a type of ultra-dramatic German operatic theatre developed by Richard Wagner in the mid-/late- Romantic era
Musique Concréte - music comprised of natural sounds that are recorded and/or manipulated electronically or via magnetic tape; a compositional approach promoted by Varése in the 1950s
Mutation - a rank of pipes that sounds a non-octave pitch above the written note
Mute - a device used to muffle the tone and volume of an instrument
Natural - A symbol in sheet music that returns a note to its original pitch after it has been augmented or diminished.
Nazard - a mutation stop of 2 2/3′ that sounds an octave and a fifth above the written pitch
Neoclassical - Movement in music where the characteristics are crisp and direct.
Niente - also called quasi niente often used at the end of a piece to direct the performer to fade the music away to little more than a bare whisper, normally gradually with a diminuendo, al niente.
Nocturne - A musical composition that has a romantic or dreamy character with nocturnal associations.
Nonet - A composition written for nine instruments.
Non-metrical - music without a regular beat or steady meter (you cannot tap your foot to the beat)
Non-Western music - music from countries other than Europe and the Americas
Notation - First developed in the 8th century, methods of writing music.
Note - in music notation, a black or white oval-shaped symbol (with or without a stem/flag) that represents a specific rhythmic duration and/or pitch
Oboe - a nasal-sounding double-reed instrument that is the alto of the standard woodwind family; a reed stop used as a solo and in combinations
Obbligato - An extended solo, often accompanying the vocal part of an aria.
Octave - Eight full tones above the key note where the scale begins and ends
A principal rank of pipes, usually sounding an octave above the main principal rank in any division.
Octet - A composition written for eight instruments.
Opera - A drama where the words are sung instead of spoken.
Opera Buffa - comic Italian opera (usually in 2 acts)
Opera Seria - serious Itallain opera (usually in 3 acts)
Operetta - A short light musical drama.
Opus - Convenient method of numbering a composer’s works where a number follows the word opus
Oratorio - a large-scale sacred work for solo singers, chorus and orchestra that is NOT staged
Orchestra - a large instrumental ensemble comprised of strings, woodwinds, brasses and percussion, usually with a conductor
Orchestral Oboe - a solo reed stop found in romantic organs; the term used for principal chorus with mixture on pipe organs
Orchestration - the technique of conceiving or arranging a composition for orchestra
Ordinary - (see "Mass Ordinary")
Organ - a wind/keyboard instrument, usually with many sets of pipes controlled from two or more manuals (keyboards), including a set of pedals played by the organist's feet (a set of mechanical or electrical "stops" allow the player to open or close the flow of air to selected groups of pipes)
Organum - a type of early French Medieval polyphony dating from c. 1000-1200, featuring a slow non-metered chant in the lowest voice with one or more faster metrical voices sung above (in melismatic style—many notes sung on each syllable of text)
Ostinato - a short rhythmic/melodic idea that is repeated exactly over and over throughout a musical section or work
Overture - a one-movement orchestral introduction to an opera (Wagner, Bizet and other composers after 1850 use the term prelude instead to show dramatic unity between the overture and the theatrical drama that follows it)
Partial - any of the harmonics above the fundamental in the harmonic series
Pasticcio - piece containing works by different composers
Pentatonic scale - a folk or non-Western scale having five different notes within the space of an octave
Percussion instrument - an instrument on which sound is generated by striking its surface with an object
Phrase - a small musical unit (sub-section of a melody) equivalent to a grammatical phrase in a sentence
Pianissimo - a very quiet dynamic marking
Piano - a quiet dynamic marking
Piano - (instrument) a versatile modern keyboard instrument that makes sound via fingered keys that engage felt-tipped hammers that strike the strings
Pianoforte - the original instrumental prototype of the piano (late Baroque/early Classic eras)
Pistons - buttons and toe studs that change stops and couplers and may be set by the organist
Pitch - the relative highness or lowness of a musical sound (based on frequency of vibration)
Più - lit = more and is used with other musical commands to increase their effects.
Più agitato - more agitated, is the opposite of meno.
Più lento - more slowly or slow down.
Più Mosso - lit moved, moving. May be used with a preceding più or meno, for faster or slower respectively
Pizzicato - usually refers to a type of violin playing in which a string is plucked by the fingers
Phrase - a small musical unit (sub-section of a melody) equivalent to a grammatical phrase in a sentence
Plein Jeu - literally “full stops”; the French term for Organo Pleno; one of the names for a mixture
Plenum - another word for principal chorus with mixture
Poco - lit few or little. Precedes many other musical terms
Poco meno mosso - a little less motion.
Polka - a lively Bohemian (Czech) dance (traditionally for the common classes)
Polonaise - a Polish nationalistic military dance used in some of Chopin's piano character pieces
Polyphony - music with two or more sounds happening simultaneously
Polyphonic - when two or more independent melodic lines are sounding at the same time
Polyrhythm - when several independent rhythmic lines are sounding at the same time
Polytonality - when music is played in two or more contrasting keys at the same time
Pommer - a flute stop
Posaune - literally “trombone”; the German name for a low-pitched reed stop of the trumpet family
Positif, Positiv - 1) German and French for Positive – a division of the organ, usually open and bright in sound
2) a portable organ, usually with only one keyboard
Postlude - a concluding section (usually at the end of a keyboard movement)
Prelude - 1) a free-form introductory movement to a fugue or other more complex composition;
2) a term used instead of overture (by Wagner, Bizet and other later Romantic composers) to show dramatic unity between the introductory orchestral music and the theatrical drama that follows it
Prepared piano - a modern technique invented by John Cage in which various natural objects (spoons, erasers, screws, etc.) are strategically inserted between the strings of a piano, in order to create unusual sounds
Presa - sign indication entry of a part in canon or round
Prestant - a principal stop
Presto - a very fast tempo
Principa - the type of pipe that makes a typical organ tone
Principal Chorus - principal stops at 8′, 4′, 2′, sometimes 16′, 22/3′ with mixture(s)
Program music (or "programmatic music") - instrumental music intended to tell a specific story, or set a specific mood or extra-musical image
Program symphony - a programmatic multi-movement work for orchestra
Progression - a series of chords that functions similarly to a sentence or phrase in written language
Pyrophone - aka fire/explosion organ/calliope - notes sounded by explosions or form of rapid combustion
Quadruple meter - a basic metrical pattern having four beats per measure
Quasi - lit as if, resembling e.g. quasi recitativo = like a recitative
Quasi niente - see Niente
Quintadena - a flute stop voiced to sound its third partial prominently
Quinte - a stop of 2 2/3′ pitch, usually made of principal pipes
Quotation music - (common since c. 1960) a composition extensively using quotations from earlier works
Raga - a melodic pattern used in the music of India
Ragtime - a style of piano music developed around the turn of the 20th century, with a march-like tempo, a syncopated right-hand melody, and an "oom-pah" left-hand accompaniment
Rallentando - similar to Ritardando but more of a letting go or dying away.
Range - the distance between the lowest and highest possible notes of an instrument or melody
Rank - a row of pipes of one tone color brought into play by a stop knob or tablet
Rankett - a reed stop with short resonators
Rap - (hip-hop) a style of popular music developed by Afro-Americans in the 1970s, in which the lyrics are spoken over rhythm tracks
Recapitulation - the third aspect of Classic sonata form; in this section, both themes of the exposition are restated in the home key (the second theme gives up its opposing key centre)
Récit - the French name for the Swell division
Recitative - a speech-like style of singing with a free rhythm over a sparse accompaniment
Recorder - an ancient wooden flute
Reed - a flexible strip of cane (or metal) that vibrates in the mouthpiece of a wind instrument
an organ pipe that makes a sound by the vibration of a reed against a hollow tube called a 'shallot'.
Regal - a reed stop with short resonators
Register - a specific coloristic portion of an instrumental or vocal range
Renaissance - c1450-1600; an era that witnessed the rebirth of learning and exploration. This was reflected musically in a more personal style than seen in the Middle Ages. (Josquin Desprez, Palestrina, Weelkes)
Requiem Mass - a Roman Catholic Mass for the dead
Resonator - the body of a reed pipe, which amplifies and modifies the sound of the reed itself
Retrograde - a melody presented in backwards motion
Retrograde inversion - a melody presented backwards and intervalically upside down
Reversible - a piston that turns something both on and off
Rhythm - the element of music as it unfolds in time
Rhythm and Blues - a style of Afro-American popular music that flourished in the 1940s-60s; a direct predecessor to rock and roll
Ricochet - On string instrument, bounce bow rapidly on strings while bowing
Ritardando abb Rit - deliberate slowing down the tempo or being late
Ritenuto abb Riten - an indication to suddenly and temporarily decrease the tempo; to hold back for dramatic effect. Note:Ritenuto is sometimes abbreviated rit., which also stands for ritardando.
Ritornello form - a Baroque design that alternates big vs. small effects (tutti vs. solo); usually the tutti section is a recurring melodic refrain
Rock and Roll - a style of popular music that emerged in the 1950s out of the combination of Afro-American, Country-Western and pop-music elements
Romantic - refers to instruments and music of the 19th century or in that style
Romantic Era - c1820-1890; an era of flamboyance, nationalism, the rise of "superstar" performers, and concerts aimed at middle-class "paying" audiences. Orchestral, theatrical and soloistic music grew to spectacular heights of personal expression. (Schubert, Berlioz, Chopin, Wagner, Brahms, Tchaikovsky)
Rondo form - a Classic form in which a main melodic idea returns two or three times in alternation with other melodies (ABACA or ABACABA, etc.)
Rubato - lit. stolen time. So refers to expressive and rhythmic freedom by a slight speeding up and then slowing down of the tempo of a piece at the discretion of the soloist or the conductor
Sackbut - an ancient brass instrument; ancestor to the trombone
Salicional - a string stop
Saxophone - a family of woodwind instruments with a single reed and brass body; commonly used in jazz and marching band/concert band music
Scale - a family of pitches arranged in an ascending/descending order
- the relationship of the diameter to the length of an organ pipe
Scat singing - a style of improvised jazz singing sung on colourful nonsense syllables
Scherzo - a country dance in triple meter
Scherzo and trio form - a musical movement based on a country dance in triple meter; replaced the aristocratic minuet in the early 1800s as the usual third movement of the Classic 4-movement design
Schalmei - a reed stop of the oboe family
Scharf - a mixture
Schwellwerk - the German name for the Swell division
Score - written notation that vertically aligns all instrumental/vocal parts used in a composition
Sequence - the immediate repetition of a melodic passage on a higher or lower pitch level
Senza - means'without' as in senza rit., without ritardando.
Serenade - a Classic instrumental chamber work similar to a small-scale symphony; usually performed for social entertainment of the upper classes
Serialism - a method of modern composition in which the twelve chromatic pitches are put into a numerically-ordered series used to control various aspects of a work (melody, harmony. tone colour, dynamics, instrumentation, etc.)
Sesquialtera - the name for a stop which pulls two ranks – 22/3′ and 13/5 – into play
Sesquitone - a group of 3 semitones. N.B. 4 sesquitones = 1 Octave
Sforzando sfz - an indication to make a strong, sudden accent on a note or chord. It literally means subito forzando (fz), which translates to “suddenly with force.” The effect of sfz may be interpreted and explained in both dynamics (volume) and articulation.
- a name for the 'tutti' combination piston on a pipe organ
Shakuhachi - a Japanese flute
Shallot - the hollow brass tube against which the reed vibrates in a reed pipe
Shamisen - a banjo-like Japanese stringed instrument
Sharp sign (#) - a musical symbol that raises the pitch one half-step
Shawm - an ancient double-reed woodwind instrument
Shutters - the wooden slats that enclose a swell box
Sforzando (ß) - sudden stress on a note or chord
Singspiel - a traditionally low-level type of comic light opera, featuring spoken German dialogue interspersed with simple German songs
Sitar - a long-necked stringed instrument of India
Snare drum - a non-pitched drum with two heads stretched over a metal shell; the lower head has metal wires strapped across it to produce a rattling sound
Solid State - combination action controlled by a small computer, containing several memories so that the entire organ can be set up several times at once
Solo - a division of the organ that contains solo stops and often loud reeds, usually played from the top of four manuals
Solo Concerto - a 3-movement work for a single soloist vs. an orchestra
Sonata - a Classic multi-movement work for a piano (or for one instrument with piano accompaniment)
Sonata form (also called Sonata-allegro form) - the common first-movement form of Classic multimovement instrumental works; essentially a musical debate between two opposing key centres characterized by three dramatic structural divisions within a single movement: Exposition (two opposing keys are presented), Development (harmonically restless), Recapitulation (all material is presented in the home key)
Sonata-rondo form - a formal design that combines aspects of sonata form and rondo form: (an ABACABA design in which the opening ABA=exposition (two opposing keys presented in "A" vs. "BA"); C=development (harmonically restless); the last ABA=recapitulation (all material is presented in the home key)
Song - a small-scale musical work that is sung (a German song is a "Lied"; a French song is a "chanson"; an Italian song is a canzona")
Song cycle - a set of poetically-unified songs (for one singer accompanied by either piano or orchestra)
Soprano - 1) the highest ranged woman's voice or a high pre-pubescent boy's voice
2) the highest sounding instrument of an instrumental family
Soprano sfogato - A soprano who has extended her range above the normal
Sostenuto - sustained, and occasionally implies a slowing of tempo, though more often it refers to a very legato style in which the notes are performed in a sustained manner beyond their normal values.
Sousaphone - an ultra-bass brass instrument designed for use in marching bands
Specification - a list of the stops or ranks found in an organ
Spiccato - bouncing bow off the strings between bow strokes
Spinto soprano - A soprano of normal weight and fluidity can be pushed to a more forceful weight
Spotted metal - a combination of tin and lead used for metal flue pipes
Sprechstimme - a half-spoken, half-sung style of singing on approximate pitches, developed by Schoenberg in the early 1900s
Squillo - lit ringing. The resonant quality of an operatic singers voice
Staccato - short, detached notes
Stop - the knob or tablet that pulls a rank of pipes into play
Stopped Diapason - a flute stop
Stopped pipe - a flue pipe that is closed at the top with a cap or stopper, making it sound an octave lower than an open pipe of the same length
Stretto - 1) A close succession or overlapping of statements of the subject in a fugue, especially in the final section.
2) A final section, as of an opera, performed with an acceleration in tempo to produce a climax and also called stretta
String instrument - an instrument that is played by placing one's hands directly on the strings, such as violin, viola, cello, double bass, harp, guitar, dulcimer, psaltery, and the ancient viols
String quartet - 1) a chamber ensemble of two violins, viola and cello, devised in the early Classic era;
2) a multi-movement work for two violins, viola and cello
Strings - flue pipes of narrow scale, voiced to have many harmonics
Strophic form - a song form featuring several successive verses of text sung to the same music
Subject - the main melodic idea of a fugue
Suite - a collection of dance movements
Sul tasto - playing string instrument with bow over the end of the fingerboard
Swell - a division of the organ enclosed in a box with shutters
Swing - a term to describe "Big Band" jazz music of the 1930s-50s
Symphonic poem - a single-movement programmatic work for orchestra
Symphony - a multi-movement work for orchestra
Syncopation - an "off-the-beat" accent
Synthesizer - a modern electronic keyboard instrument capable of generating a multitude of sounds
Tabla - a pair of drums used to accompany the music of India
Tala - a rhythmic pattern used in the music of India
Tempo - the speed of the musical beat
Tempered - tuning of a pipe organ that is not mathematically exact, but adjusted to allow performance in all keys
Tenor - a high-ranged male voice
Tenuto - lit to hold It means either hold the note in question its full length, or longer, with slight rubato, or play the note slightly louder.
Ternary form - ABA design (statement, contrast, restatement)
Tessitura - the range within which most notes of a vocal part fall
Texture - the element focusing on the number of simultaneous musical lines being sounded
Theme - the main self-contained melody of a musical composition
Theme and variations form - a theme is stated then undergoes a series of sectional alterations
Through-composed form - a song form with no large-scale musical repetition
Tierce - a 13/5′ mutation stop that sounds two octaves and a third above the written pitch
Timbre - another term for tone colour
Timpani - various-sized kettle-shaped pitched drums; a tenor instrument of the percussion family
Toe Stud - a large button near the pedal keyboard that operates a piston
Tone colour - the unique, characteristic sound of a musical instrument or voice
Tone cluster - a modern technique of extreme harmonic dissonance created by a large block of pitches sounding simultaneously
Tonality - music centred around a "home" key (based on a major or minor scale)
Tone row - an ordered series of twelve chromatic pitches used in serialism
Tonic - the first note of a scale or key
Tonic key - the "home" key of a tonal composition
Tracker - a rod that connects the key to the pipe valve in mechanical-action organs
Transition - a bridge section between two musical ideas
Transposition - shifting a piece to a different pitch level
Tratto - playing Col legno with long bowed notes
Tremolo - rapid repetition of a pitch (i.e.: bowing a string rapidly while maintaining a constant pitch)
Triad - a three-note chord built on alternating scales steps (1-3-5, etc.)
Trill - rapid alternation of two close pitches to create a "shaking" ornament on a melodic note
Trio Sonata - a Baroque multi-movement chamber work for four performers (2 violins and basso continuo)
Triple Metre - a common metre with three additional beats
Triplet - a rhythmic grouping of three equal-valued notes played in the space of two (indicated in written music by a "3" above the grouping)
Trombone - a family of brass instruments that change pitch via a moveable slide (alto, tenor and bass versions are common)
- a low pitch reed stop on a pipe organ
Trumpet - a valved instrument that is the soprano of the modern brass family
- a reed stop whose pipes have conical resonators
Tuba - a large valved brass instrument; the bass of the modern brass family
Tubular bells - see chimes
Tutti - (Italian for "all" or "everyone") an indication for all performers to play together
- a piston that brings on full organ, usually reversible
Twelfth - a mutation stop of 22/3′ pitch, usually made of principal pipes
Vamp - Provide accompaniment to solo
Vamp til ready - Accompanist to repeat simple 1or2 measures until soloist easy to enter
Vibrato - Slight fluctuation of pitch of note
Viola - Medium sized string instrument
Viola d’amore - A tenor viol with no frets
Viola da braccio - Stringed instrument held in the arm, such as a violin or a viola
Viola da gamba - 1) Stringed instrument held between the legs
2) a string stop on an organ
Voix Céleste - a rank of string pipes tuned sharp to cause beats with its companion rank
Vox Humana - literally “human voice”; a reed stop with short resonators
Windchest - a box on which the pipes stand, filled with air
Zimbelstern - a wheel with bells on it, used as a special effect on some organs
Zink - a reed stop with short resonators

Updated by PeterA December 2019
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Glossary Of Musical Terms

Postby Fred » 14 May 2012 20:17

Thanks Mike

Now I know why I have struggled for so many years.

Cheers

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OOPPSS

Postby bluekiwi » 15 May 2012 07:46

First day on the job and I get this!!!!!!!
I hoped I would never see a list like that again since a teenager
Thanx for the memory
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Postby VinceB » 19 May 2012 10:28

When I first saw that list , I was about to send a comment such as "are you kidding us Mike that you knew that lot?" Then I saw the source at the bottom. I was quite deflated

Seriously though that's all good useful information, that's handy to have all in one place like that

Thanks Mike

Hope the Dentist wasnt too hard on you today

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Postby Mike Bracchi » 19 May 2012 11:34

VinceB wrote:When I first saw that list , I was about to send a comment such as "are you kidding us Mike that you knew that lot?" Then I saw the source at the bottom. I was quite deflated

Seriously though that's all good useful information, that's handy to have all in one place liek that

Thanks Mike

Hope the Dentist wasnt too hard on you today

Vince


He he he .... sorry to disappoint you mate - until a fortnight ago the only 'picardie' that I knew anything about was the sort that you had with coke & ice :lol: :lol:

And as for the dentist ... I'm off shortly for a one o'clock appointment :(
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Re: Glossary Of Musical Terms

Postby andyg » 28 Jan 2013 21:48

The bit on Modes isn't right, though. Here's a bit more information.

Examples of what we'd teach as Modes these days:

Ionian mode is our major scale - like a C scale from C to C
Dorian mode is like a C scale from D to D
Phrygian mode is like a C scale from E to E
Lydian mode is like a C scale from F to F
Mixolydian mode is like a scale from G to G
Aoelian mode is our natural minor (or pure minor) scale - like a C scale from A to A
Locrian mode is like a C scale from B to B

You can go further, much, much further.....if you wish!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mode_(music) will get the mind boggling a bit, I think.

Basic up/down notation, in the form of neumes, may have predated it, but Guido d'Arezzo's invention of the stave around AD 1000 was surely the start of proper notation.

And Gregorian Chant, according to Howard Goodall's superb TV programme at the weekend, has nothing to do with Pope Gregory at all!
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Re: Glossary Of Musical Terms

Postby SysExJohn » 29 Jan 2013 08:46

You stopped at O :?:

How about crescendo and diminuendo :?:

and a motet

counter tenor

fz and sfz

...

:roll: :wink:
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Re: Glossary Of Musical Terms

Postby Mike Bracchi » 29 Jan 2013 09:22

SysExJohn wrote:You stopped at O :?:

How about crescendo and diminuendo :?:

and a motet

counter tenor

fz and sfz

...

:roll: :wink:


Now here's a thing John .... shortly after I started this site I made that post, it was a complete alphabetical list from a-z ... several months after I started, proforums.com who hosted the site for free, issued a statement saying that they were closing up and we would have to move our site to a paid host or lose it for ever :?

I decided to pay for a hosting company and move the site lock stock and barrel to Hostgator.com ... now, the move went reasonably well, I say reasonably because it transpired that a dozen or so of the biggest posts on the forum had been corrupted in the transfer ... strange symbols appeared throughout these larger posts (“opus†and 1700’s to mid 1800’s.) along with great chunks of the text disappearing into thin air :| :|

So, I moved all of these affected topics into admin until I got to the bottom of it ... unfortunately the issue has not be resolved to date and every now and again another one of these corrupted topics will come to light indicating that I clearly didn't find and remove then all .... I have sort of been expecting to find the lost text embedded in other topics over time ... but as yet, nothing like that has been found :lol:

A real puzzle .... :D
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Re: Glossary Of Musical Terms

Postby Wally Gator » 29 Jan 2013 15:49

Very interesting for sure. I had one of these this morning> Movement - A separate section of a larger composition. :lol:
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Re: Glossary Of Musical Terms

Postby andyg » 29 Jan 2013 20:21

Followed by a brief paradiddle, perhaps! :D
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Re: Glossary Of Musical Terms (Updated by PeterA)

Postby Hugh-AR » 22 Nov 2017 21:04

Mike,

PeterA has tidied your list up for you, and will add into it any more terms he comes across.

Hugh (22/11/2017)
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Re: Glossary Of Musical Terms (Updated by PeterA)

Postby Wally Gator » 21 Jan 2018 16:19

At least they had the most important musical term of all time. "Rock and Roll" :D
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